India's creative economy stepped into the spotlight on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, as Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat inaugurated the 26th edition of FICCI FRAMES in Mumbai — the country's entertainment capital — under the theme 'India's Media Moment: Creating Value in an Age of Infinite Content.' The choice of theme was no accident: it signals that India's media industry is no longer content to play catch-up.

A 26-Year-Old Stage, a Brand-New Mandate

FICCI FRAMES, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, has been the media and entertainment sector's annual reckoning since its first edition. By its 26th iteration, the conversation has shifted dramatically — from protecting domestic box-office share to exporting Indian stories to every streaming queue on the planet. Shekhawat framed the moment precisely: 'From cinema and streaming to gaming, AI and the creator economy, the future belongs to those who can combine technology with human creativity and authentic stories.'

That is a wider aperture than the conference has historically trained on. Gaming, artificial intelligence, and the creator economy now sit alongside film and television as first-class agenda items — reflecting where the money, the talent, and the global audience attention are actually moving.

'Create in India, Create for the World'

The minister explicitly anchored the session in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision, invoking the directive that India must 'create in India and create for the world.' The phrase is a creative-economy extension of the broader Make in India doctrine launched in 2014, now applied to content rather than just manufactured goods. The logic is straightforward: India has the storytelling heritage, the technical workforce, and — increasingly — the digital infrastructure to serve not just 1.4 billion domestic consumers but global audiences hungry for non-Western narratives.

Shekhawat tied the ambition to tourism as well, arguing that authentic Indian stories can carry 'our culture, heritage and destinations to every corner of the globe.' For a minister who holds both the Culture and Tourism portfolios, that linkage is strategic: a hit Indian streaming series or a globally distributed film is also a tourism advertisement that no paid campaign can replicate.

'Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi' — Development and Heritage, Together

The minister closed with the government's signature cultural framing — 'Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi' (Development too, Heritage too) — a phrase that has become the BJP government's shorthand for arguing that modernisation and tradition are not in tension but in partnership. Applied to the media sector, it positions AI-assisted production and ancient storytelling traditions as complementary rather than competing forces.

The AVGC sector — Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics — has been a stated policy priority, with the government having set up a task force in recent years to chart its growth. FICCI FRAMES is the industry's most visible annual platform to translate that policy intent into deals, partnerships, and international co-production agreements. Whether fresh incentives or new bilateral content agreements emerge from this edition will be the metric by which the conference's ambition is ultimately judged.

India has the raw material. The question FICCI FRAMES 26 puts on the table is whether the ecosystem — policy, capital, and creative talent — can now industrialise it at global scale. Shekhawat just raised the bar for what the answer needs to look like.