India at WAVES 2025: Over 90 countries took part to engage with India's "expansive creative ecosystem"

New Delhi [India], December 31 : In one of its major initiatives to support India's media and entertainment sector, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting helmed WAVES 2025, the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi described WAVES not just as an event, but as a "wave of culture, creativity and universal connectivity," and encouraged creators worldwide to "dream big and tell your story." PM also emphasised India's vision of "Create in India, Create for the World," inviting global investors and youth to engage with India's expansive creative ecosystem.

Waves 2025 witnessed participation from over 90 countries, with more than 10,000 delegates, 1,000 creators, over 300 companies, over 350 startups, and an overall footfall of approximately 1 lakh attendees, spanning diverse sectors including broadcasting, infotainment, AVGC-XR, films, and digital media.

WAVES platform is further being continued through its three futuristic verticals, including CreatoSphere & Create in India Challenges, WaveX, and WAVES BAZAAR.

1. CreatoSphere & Create in India Challenges (CIC)

CreatoSphere is an immersive hub of innovation that places creators at the centre, transforming ideas into experiences across film, VFX, VR, animation, gaming, comics, music, broadcasting, and digital media. It brings together leading creative minds from India and abroad to foster dialogue, partnerships, innovation, and global showcasing of talent.

CIC Season 1 has emerged as "India's largest creative talent movement" and has achieved unprecedented global reach. Season I featured 33 categories, attracted over 1 lakh entries from across India and more than 60 countries, and showcased over 750 finalists across eight creative zones at WAVES, establishing India's largest creator-led challenge platform.

A defining moment of the season was the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who interacted directly with young creators, experienced winning innovations, and highlighted India's potential as a global content hub. The culmination of the season also saw over 150 creators being recognised by the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnav, at the WAVES Creator Awards, underscoring the government's focus on nurturing India's creative economy.

CIC winners have recently represented India across Melbourne, Osaka, Toronto, Tokyo and Madrid, performing and exhibiting at major international cultural platforms. Music winners performed at Melbourne and TIFF, Toronto. Gaming and animation finalists exhibited at the Tokyo Game Show. Film and VFX creators represented India at Iberseries, Madrid. Several other winners went on to secure collaborations, showcase their work at major national and international forums, and achieve major recognition.

2. WaveX

WaveX aims to support and engage over 200 Startups as part of its initiative to strengthen the innovation and startup ecosystem.

It enabled more than 30 startups to pitch to global industry leaders such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Lumikai, while nearly 100 startups showcased solutions through exhibition booths. A key milestone was the selection of VYGR News and VIVA Technologies (both supported by WaveX) for pitching on Shark Tank India, underscoring national recognition and credibility.

WaveX successfully conceptualised and implemented the KalaaSetu and BhashaSetu Challenges to promote innovation at the intersection of technology, culture, and linguistic diversity. KalaaSetu focused on developing scalable AI-driven text-to-video generation solutions, while BhashaSetu encouraged the creation of real-time language translation tools. The initiatives witnessed participation from over 100 startups across the country and culminated in the selection of 10 startups, which were provided the opportunity to collaborate with government media units.

WaveX facilitated participation at major platforms, including India Joy, IGDC, INFOCOM, IFFI/ Waves Film Bazaar (Goa), and the Big Picture Summit, driving investor interest and advanced discussions on partnerships, publishing, and commercialisation. It has established 09 incubation centres at premier institutions like FTII Pune, SRFTI Kolkata, IICT Mumbai, and multiple IIMC campuses, ensuring pan-India reach. Currently, 34 startups are incubated (physical and hybrid), with over 100 applications under evaluation, strengthened by partnerships like an MoU with T-Hub.

3. WAVES BAZAAR

WAVES Bazaar is the Global e-Marketplace for Films, Game Developers, Animation & VFX Services, XR, VR & AR Services, Radio & Podcast, Comics & E-Books, Web-Series,and Music. Designed as a "craft-to-commerce" initiative, it connects Indian creators and institutions with global & domestic markets through curated festival/event participation, B2B meetings, co-productions, investments, and collaborations, in coordination with industry stakeholders.

Global & Domestic Outreach (August-December 2025)

Between August and November 2025, WAVES Bazaar undertook an extensive outreach programme covering 12 major international events across four continents and four key domestic industry events. These engagements resulted in unprecedented scale and measurable impact:

*Approx. Rs. 4,334 crores in potential business and investment discussions generated

*10 MoUs / LoIs signed, and 3 MoUs / LoIs proposed

*Over 9000 structured B2B meetings facilitated

*Launch of the Indo-Japan Creative Corridor, India-Korea AVGC Collaboration Framework and the Indo-Australia Creative Collaboration.

Key international engagements included the Melbourne Film Festival, Gamescom, Venice International Film Festival, Osaka World Expo, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF 50), Busan International Film Festival, Tokyo Game Show, Iberseries, MIPCOM, Red Sea Film Festival, Focus London and Asia TV Forum Market, Singapore.

Key domestic engagements included the IFFI/Waves Film Bazaar (Goa), India Joy (Hyderabad), IGDC (Chennai), and CII-Big Picture.

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