MAM
Maruti Suzuki partners with the Indian Air Force
Mumbai: Maruti Suzuki India has partnered with the Indian Air Force and Uttarakhand War Memorial for the Vayu Veer Vijeta Rally, tagged as the “Himalayan Thunder” and “Wings of Glory.” The rally aims to honour fallen soldiers and inspire youth to join the Indian Armed Forces. It was ceremonially flagged off on 1 October 2024 by defence minister Rajnath Singh at the National War Memorial, with the formal flag-off on 8 October at one of the world’s highest air force stations.
The rally includes 52 participants, including air warriors, women officers, veterans, and War Memorial representatives, covering 7000 km from Ladakh’s THOISE Air Force Station to Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang Air Force Station. Three former Air Force chiefs will join in different segments, with 12 Maruti Suzuki Jimny SUVs tackling the challenging terrain. The rally, supported by PHDCCI, will stop at War Memorials and hold 16 halts and 20 youth interactions to raise awareness about the armed forces.
Maruti Suzuki’s senior executive officer of marketing & sales Partho Banerjee stated, “Maruti Suzuki is proud to associate with the Indian Air Force in the Vayu Veer Vijeta Rally, an initiative that honours our armed forces. This rally stands as a symbol of the enduring spirit of the heroes who have given everything in the line of duty. We have a long-standing association with the armed forces and the Jimny is building on that legacy with its legendary off-road capabilities. The Jimny perfectly aligns with the ethos of this mission, and we are proud to have our vehicles to be a part of this rally.”
The rally will pass through key regions like Leh, Kargil, Srinagar, Jammu, Chandigarh, and Tawang, paying tribute to the sacrifices of India’s heroes while promoting the legacy of courage and service.
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.
