MAM
Dalmia Cement launches digital engagement programme with dealers during lockdown
MUMBAI: Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd has launched a digital engagement programme, ‘Dalmia Cares’ for its dealers and channel partners across the country. The programme offers cement dealers multiple ways to engage in social responsibility, wellness and family activities using digital and in home/ near home activities.
Dalmia Cement COO Ujjwal Batria said, “We have prided ourselves on being the first to market with various digital tools over the years. These tools help dealers make day to day business interactions easy, quick and cost-efficient. With the lockdown in force to overcome Covid19, we have launched several activities to keep morale up, help local communities and increase life satisfaction during this difficult time.”
Dalmia Cement executive director marketing Pramesh Arya said, “Many of our dealers are community and business leaders, and have already undertaken a number of social activities in their local areas. With Dalmia Cares, we wanted to create a larger social movement, helping give shape to a more focused effort to help communities and families.”
The Dalmia Cares programme includes daily task-based activities, including showcasing hidden talents, fitness activities at home, culinary challenges, puzzles, feeding local communities, helping stray animals among others. Dealers completing these tasks earn reward points, which they can redeem against a range of exciting prizes, including gadgets and household appliances. Dealers were also encouraged to donate to the PM-CARES fund and other charitable organisations of their choice. These funds raised by Dalmia Cement dealers are in addition to the Rs 25 crore and Rs 1.6 crore donated by Dalmia Bharat Group, and its employees respectively.
Dalmia Cement is one of the largest producers of speciality cement products in India, offering individual and institutional customers a wide variety of products across the country. The brand also offers products under the Dalmia DSP and Konark brands in key markets.
The programme has received hundreds of entries from the states Dalmia Cement operates in, with dealers delighting families and local communities with their contributions. The company will extend the programme as long as the effects of the lockdown remain in force around the country.
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.
