The Budget 2026 is here, and it has laid profound emphasis on gaming and other creative domains. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that India’s creative industries could serve as a new domain for jobs and a services boost for the economy in the future.
The fact that the industry is now on a growing trajectory and would require close to 2 million professionals by 2030. She said, “I propose to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, in setting up AVGC content creator labs in 15,000 secondary schools all over the country and 500 colleges.”
The proposal is based on the themes highlighted in the Economic Survey of 2025–26 that says that the creativity-led sectors, consisting of culture, entertainment, media, and intellectual property, could soon become the main source of employment, tourism, and urban services. The Orange Economy comprises activities that are primarily from artistic expressions, ideas, and cultural capital instead of physical goods.
The proposal to set up AVGC Content Creator Labs in schools and colleges aims to build grassroots creative talent at scale. By training 2 million professionals by 2030, it will strengthen digital content skills that can naturally extend to AR/XR, helping democratize access to modern tools, spur innovation, and position India as a global hub for AVGC-XR and the creative economy.
Role of the new AVGC Task Force
THE AVGC task force has been tasked with making recommendations to promote the animation, Visual effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector, which has significant potential for youth employment. The aim of the new task force is to build domestic capacity to meet both local and global demand, ensuring that India can harness the creative sector growth effectively. This initiative is crucial for creating jobs and supporting the broader ambitions of the orange economy.
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