MAM
Ajeenkya DY Patil University to host Inaugural Young Chef Young Waiter Competition 2024
Mumbai: Ajeenkya DY Patil University (ADYPU), known for state of the art infrastructure by providing quality education hosted the launch of much-acclaimed Young Chef Young Waiter (YCYW) 2024 on 18 January 2024 in Mumbai. Having encouraged and inspired the global hospitality community for over four decades, the competition is now being held for the very first time in India.
Inaugurated in 1979 in the UK in partnership with UK Hospitality and the Restaurant Association to promote hospitality as a career of choice, the competition has been supported by professionals in this field for over 45 years.
Restaurant Association UK chairman and president, Dr Robert Walton MBE said, ” The Young Chef Young Waiter competition has a storied history of discovering and celebrating talent in the hospitality industry. Hosting this event at Ajeenkya DY Patil University adds a new and exciting dimension, especially as we resonate with the university’s dedication to encouraging out-of-the box thinking. We keenly await new flavours and experiences from India.”
World Young Chef Young Waiter managing director, Sean Valentine said “The YCYW competition will be the perfect launchpad for young Indian talent to build global networks and learn from the very best. We want to spotlight India as a rising giant in hospitality excellence.’
The confluence of principles between the university and the Young Chef, Young Waiter competition is striking. Both organizations value ingenuity, innovative thinking, and a can-do attitude and aspire to nurture talent and encourage youth to consider professional culinary arts and hospitality pursuits. The competition thus intends to propel professional growth for young student chefs and service trainees by testing their skills under pressure and helping them learn from industry experts across the world.
Ajeenkya DY Patil University president and Chairman, Dr Ajeenkya DY Patil said, “We are thrilled to host the YCYW competition and join in the celebration of the rising stars in India’s vibrant hospitality segment. By providing a global platform for young talent, we hope to spotlight Indian culinary arts and service excellence while inspiring wider interest in this industry. We are proud to be associated with this initiative, and we look forward to seeing the extraordinary skills that young professionals will bring to the table.”
The competition will be judged by Chef Mario Perara and Chef Cyrus Todiwala, both highly acclaimed in their fields. It will start with an initial screening of applications, followed by India final and the finalist further competing at the world stage.
Celebrity Chef Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL, Café Spice, United Kingdom said, “Indian cuisine and service standards have made their mark globally. In fact, the country has seen praiseworthy growth in culinary excellence and service standards in the last decade. We are delighted to bring this global competition to India to celebrate the immense potential of local talent on the world stage.”
The Dorchester executive chef Mario Pereira said, “I’m thrilled to judge the creative talents of India’s next generation of hospitality heroes. This is a great opportunity for them to show the world that they have what it takes to leave a mark on the hospitality industry worldwide,”
Registration for the competition will open on January 18 and continue until June 15.
Aspiring participants can register themselves on https://youngchefyoungwaiter.com/india.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
