Digital
HDFC ERGO partners with mFilterIt to boost its operational efficiency for online advertisements
Mumbai: HDFC ERGO General Insurance, India’s leading private sector general insurance company, has partnered with mFilterIt, a pioneer in media verification and protection solutions. A ‘digital first’ insurer with customer focused approach, through this alliance HDFC ERGO aims to validate the ad traffic and safeguarding itself against unsafe digital marketing practices by online media partners.
Recognising the significant role of digital technology in facilitating customer outreach, HDFC ERGO has been at the forefront of prioritising a safe and transparent digital environment. By joining forces with mFilterIt, HDFC ERGO aims to validate advertisement traffic from online campaigns, so as to generate genuine leads and thus optimising its advertising efficiency.
As a part of this alliance, mFilterIt will analyse the quality of ad traffic and identify the bot traffic across the user-acquisition funnel. This transparency will help to optimise HDFC ERGO ad campaigns based on ad traffic generated by genuine customers, thus improving the conversion rate.
Commenting on the partnership, HDFC ERGO General Insurance head- digital business group and marketing Somesh Surana said, “At HDFC ERGO, we understand the role, which digital ecosystem has to play in realising the regulator’s vision of ‘Insurance for All by 2047’. However, while online platform can get us a wide reach, we need to be also mindful of the nuances it might bring in form of unsecured data. Our partnership with mFilterIt will not only allow us to stay complaint with IRDAI norms against unsafe digital marketing practices but will also help us to offer customised solutions to new and relevant customer segments across vast uninsured population of India.”
mFilterIt CTO and co-founder Dhiraj Gupta said, “We are happy to be associated with a leading insurer like HDFC ERGO, who have been pioneer in delivering innovative and hyper-personalised solutions to their customers. Our solution will ensure that HDFC ERGO is shielded against bots and invalid leads, thereby ensuring optimisation of their online lead generation campaigns. Further, the issue of invalid creatives, false promises on emailer campaigns etc. is critical and is illegal as per the regulatory norms. We will use AI to identify such instances and report to HDFC ERGO, to protect their brand image against such misdeeds.”
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.
