MAM
Adani and GMR buy teams in Ultimate Kho Kho
Mumbai: Corporate giants Adani Group and GMR group have acquired the Gujarat and Telangana franchises respectively in the Ultimate Kho Kho league, which is poised for a 2022 launch to promote the homegrown sport.
Promoted by Dabur Group chairman Amit Burman, in collaboration with the Kho Kho Federation of India, the league aims to revolutionize the indigenous sport of Kho-Kho by adopting a modern-day professional structure, which would bring the fast-paced action to the living rooms of the fans in a new avatar.
Welcoming the two team owners Ultimate Kho Kho CEO Tenzing Niyogi said, “I am delighted to welcome the Adani Group & GMR on board on our Ultimate Kho Kho journey. We are committed to bring this sporting spectacle to the masses of India and it’s of great pride to collaborate with corporates as stakeholders. This is certainly a strong foot forward for Ultimate Kho Kho becoming a sports movement”
Adani Sportsline, a part of the Adani Group, is already associated with many sporting leagues in the country and is determined to contribute to creating an ecosystem that props up future sports icons and inspires the youth of the country.
Speaking of this acquisition, Adani Enterprises director Pranav Adani said “At Adani Sportsline, we are delighted to be in a position to promote yet another exciting homegrown sport.”
He added, “We have always believed that the best way to promote homegrown sports and build engagement across the national audience is to adopt a professional, structured approach. Our experience with the Kabaddi and Boxing League gives us confidence that the Ultimate Kho Kho League will do wonders for this much-loved traditional sport. Our decision to partner with this league is an extension of our aim to build a world-class ecosystem that nurtures sporting talent, accelerates the sports economy and plays the role of an enabler in India’s journey to become a leading sporting nation.”
GMR is hoping that its association with UKK will help ‘Kho-Kho’ break the shackles and soar high in terms of popularity.
GMR Group corporate chairman Kiran Kumar Grandhi said, “At GMR Sports’ our aim is to promote sports amongst youth, connect with the community at large and build a supporting ecosystem. Since its inception, over 15 years ago, the company has done pioneering work in growing popular sports such as Cricket and other indigenous sports like Kabaddi and Wrestling across India and overseas. With a vision to nurture talent at the grass-root level, it has invested in providing access to professional sports by setting up Sports Training Academies across India.”
Ultimate Kho Kho has already roped in Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) as its official broadcasting partner in a multi-year deal. The high-octane games will be broadcast exclusively across SPNI’s sports channels and their dedicated OTT platform SonyLIV which will enable viewers to watch the Ultimate Kho Kho ‘on the go’.
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.
