Media and entertainment sector grew 20% in 2022 to cross Rs 2-trillion mark, surpasses pre-Covid level

The media and entertainment industry’s advertising revenue crossed Rs 1 trillion-mark in 2022, with digital accounting for the lion's share.

The media and entertainment industry in India grew at 19.9 percent in 2022 and crossed the Rs 2 trillion mark after a 23 percent drop in revenue during the coronavirus pandemic years.

The sector was growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.5 percent and expected to reach Rs 2.83 trillion by 2025, FICCI president Subhrakant Panda said while launching Windows of Opportunity: India’s M&E Sector Maximizing Across Segments report at the FICCI Frames event in Mumbai.

"M&E industry's growth speaks volumes of the industry’s resilience and its potential to create new opportunities in a rapidly evolving landscape," he added.

M&E sector is estimated to grow 11.5 percent in 2023 to reach Rs 2.34 trillion (US$29.2 billion).

Indians have an amazing art of storytelling, FICCI Secretary General Shailesh Pathak said. “In 2030, when India will be the third-largest economy, our media & entertainment sector will be one of the largest in the world,” he said.

Addressing the gathering, actor Ayushmann Khurrana pitched for local, saying the more local the industry would grow, the more global would be its reach. "India is being looked at as a creative juggernaut and is being looked at globally," he said.

Digital is where ads are

The media and entertainment industry’s advertising revenue crossed the Rs 1 trillion mark in 2022, with digital accounting for the lion's share.

According to the report, digital advertising accounted for 48 percent of the total ad revenue, which was larger than TV’s 30 percent and print’s 16 percent share.

Traditional media, too, grew in 2022, recovering from the Covid impact but in the future, two-thirds growth will come from new media and a third from traditional media, the report, brought out with EY, said.

Internet access even in remote areas, low cost of data, and smartphone penetration have contributed to the growth of digital media, Panda said.

Apurva Chandra, secretary, ministry of Information and broadcasting, said the government would like to be a facilitator and supporter of the media and entertainment industry. "We need to finance projects and give support to young filmmakers who don't get funds otherwise," he said.

Animation, visual effects and graphics were areas with tremendous potential, Chandra added. "The government is soon going to come up with an AVGC policy and create an AVGC Mission," he said.

The official said that the government hoped to make a National Centre for Excellence operational in Mumbai by next year.