The FICCI Frames 2015 saw the new Information and Broadcasting Minister of State Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore speak on the progress of the media and entertainment sector for the upcoming year. With a major thrust being given to the growing animation and VFX sector of the industry, it wasn’t a surprise that Rathore himself mentioned it in his one-on-one with Disney India MD Siddharth Roy Kapur.
Rathore stated that in the recent budget announcement, Finance Minister and I&B Minister Arun Jaitley had announced the Centre for animation and gaming in Arunachal Pradesh for which the government is requesting support from the community. “We want the industry to become partners with us. Our aim is that such centres should be set up near to the industry, the faculty in them should be practitioners and students should have access to projects and jobs or internships. We can’t do it on our own,” he said.
The MoS emphasised that the government was committed to hear out what the M&E industry required out of them and how the government can help them grow globally. “We want to hear your issues, your bottlenecks and the solutions that you may have to address them. You have the ability to reach out to every citizen of the world,” he said.
He said that the government has been arranging several events for the industry so that the industry can meet and market itself there. “We hold these events to give an opportunity to people. We don’t know how to market, but you do and you can help us grow it. If there is something that we can do on the content side and to increase reach, we will be glad to,” he stated.
While highlighting the major concerns of the industry, Siddharth also urged the Minister to not just look at the industry because of its size, but for the impact that it can have culturally on a vast audience.
