Creative Industries as Growth Engines

UPSC Syllabus: Gs Paper 3- Indian economy.

Introduction

In the twenty-first century, economic strength is shaped not only by industry but also by ideas, digital platforms, and cultural influence. Creative industries now generate value through technology, intellectual property, and global content flows. These sectors are becoming central to growth, employment, and international competitiveness. India’s expanding creative economy reflects this shift, where creativity is emerging as a structured economic capability driving development and global engagement.

Understanding the Creative Economy

1. Definition: The creative economy generates value from creativity, culture, technology, and intellectual property. It includes media, entertainment, animation, gaming, live experiences, and digital platforms operating globally.
2. Global economic mainstreaming: Creative industries contribute between 0.5 and over 7 percent of GDP across countries. Live entertainment creates spillovers for tourism and urban services, linking culture with wider economic activity.
3. Technology-intensive production systems: These sectors rely on digital tools, immersive design, and global production pipelines. Creative work is embedded in modern service economies and value chains.

Key Growth Drivers of the Creative Economy

1. AVGC-XR as innovation driver: Animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, and extended reality combine creative talent with advanced computing. They produce scalable intellectual property used in global films, streaming platforms, and advertising.
2. Gaming as mass digital participation: Millions across metros and small towns engage daily through mobile-based interaction and competition. India is among the world’s largest gaming markets with rising monetisation and global platform integration.
3. Experiential live entertainment ecosystems: Concerts, festivals, and events attract audiences who travel, spend, and return repeatedly. These activities energise cities, create employment, and strengthen cultural presence globally.

Current Status of India’s Creative Economy

1. Media and entertainment scale: The sector was valued at ₹2.5 trillion in 2024 with output near ₹3 lakh crore. It supports over 10 million livelihoods directly and indirectly.
2. Digital revenue shift: Digital media forms about one-third of sector revenues, reshaping production and distribution systems. Platform-based delivery expands reach across regions and markets.
3. High-growth segments: Animation and visual effects around ₹103 billion, gaming about ₹232 billion, and live entertainment over ₹100 billion. These sectors show strong scaling within the media economy.
4. Growth trajectory: Revenues may grow about 7 percent annually until 2027, rising from ₹2,502 billion in 2024 to ₹3,067 billion in 2027. This confirms a stable services-sector growth engine.
5. Global production integration: India operates as a globally connected creative production base. Indian teams contribute to international films, streaming content, advertising, and immersive media through integrated global workflows supported by a layered and scalable talent pool.

Issues with India’s Creative Economy

1. Financing and infrastructure gaps: Enterprises struggle to access credit and face infrastructure limits that restrict scaling of operations. Limited capacity slows expansion.
2. Weak intellectual property protection: Enforcement gaps make it difficult to protect original work. Infringement risks reduce incentives for innovation and investment levels.
3. Digital divide impact: Rural and semi-urban regions lack high-speed internet and digital literacy needed for participation. This limits market reach and inclusion.
4. Fragmented informal markets: Many creative sectors lack formal recognition and remain unstructured. Traditional artisans receive low income and limited institutional support.
5. Declining traditional craft continuity: Younger generations avoid traditional art forms because income potential remains low. This threatens preservation of cultural heritage.
6. Artificial intelligence challenges: AI creates opportunities but raises concerns over copyright, privacy, and content monopolisation. Rapid technological change challenges regulatory and ethical frameworks.
7. Operational barriers: Bureaucratic procedures, lack of mentorship, and non-transparent financial support systems create uncertainty for creators. Recognition and assistance processes remain uneven.

Initiatives Taken to Promote the Creative Economy

1. National AVGC-XR roadmap: Policy supports talent development, intellectual property creation, industry collaboration, and global market access. The sector may generate nearly 20 lakh jobs over the next decade.
2. Indian Institute of Creative Technologies: IICT functions as a National Centre of Excellence for AVGC-XR and gaming. It provides training, infrastructure, and industry collaboration linked globally.
3. Regional creative clusters: Hubs in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, and Thiruvananthapuram anchor growth. Emerging cities build new clusters that expand participation beyond major metropolitan centres.
4. Event infrastructure systems: Large venues and premium performance spaces support global touring circuits. Production companies, technicians, logistics teams, and hospitality services operate at international standards today.
5. Orange Economy market platforms: WAVES connects creators, startups, industry leaders, and policymakers for collaboration and deal-making. WaveX supports startup incubation, while WAVES Bazaar enables trade in scripts, music, and audiovisual rights.
6. Creator discovery initiatives: The Create in India Challenge identifies emerging talent and links them to international platforms. It enables local ideas to compete, collaborate, and commercialise globally.
7. Education and skilling pipeline: AVGC Content Creator Labs are proposed in 15,000 schools and 500 colleges to build early skills. Demand may reach nearly two million professionals by 2030.

Conclusion

Conclusion: Creative industries now function as strategic economic infrastructure shaping employment, exports, and global cultural presence. India’s expanding ecosystem shows strong market growth and institutional support. Continued investment in skills, platforms, and access will determine how effectively creativity becomes lasting economic strength and sustained global engagement in coming years and across emerging digital value chains future worldwide.

Question for practice:

Examine the role of creative industries as growth engines in India’s economy, and assess the current status, and initiatives shaping the country’s creative economy.

Source: PIB