India to be 3rd largest media & entertainment market in 5 yrs: Thakur

PANAJI: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur has said India will become the third largest media and entertainment market in the world in next five years.

Speaking at the inauguration of 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Panaji on Monday, Thakur also said that for the first time, IFFI has decided to bestow the best web series OTT award, acknowledging the transformative role of original content creators in the country.

"India, on one hand, has become the fifth largest economy of the world. It is also fifth largest in the world in terms of the media and entertainment industry. In the next five years, India is going to be the third largest economy in the world as well as the third largest media and entertainment market," he said.

The Minister said similar to last year's edition when they initiated some firsts, the spirit continues with some more firsts in this edition also.

"For the first time and from hereon, IFFI will bestow the best web series OTT award. It will acknowledge the transformative role of original content creators in India and celebrate their contribution to employment and innovation," he said.

This recognition is also given to OTT (over-the-top media service) because it entertained people when "everything was closed" during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union minister said.

"The OTT (segment) is currently growing at a rate of 28 per cent. That is why we decided to institute this award," he said.

Another first in this year's edition is to augment the scope of 'Film Bazaar' (an event held on the festival sidelines) by introducing a well-curated VFX and tech pavilion to showcase innovation from the cinema world, a documentary section to support non-fiction story telling, he added.

"For the time, we also present Cine Mela, an extravagant celebration of our diversity and culture. The IFFI has also introduced a section on restored classic feature films," he said.

"We are going to show you seven world premieres of meticulously restored masterpieces of NFDC (National Film Development Corporation) and NFAI (National Film Archive of India) under the National Film Heritage Mission," Thakur said.

Under this mission, 5,000 films and documentaries would be restored and digitised, he said.