Five creative bets: IICT signs five MoUs to expand India’s AVGC-XR ecosystem

MUMBAI: Five partnerships, one big creative push. The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) has signed five Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with industry and technology organisations as it looks to deepen India’s talent pipeline and strengthen the country’s AVGC-XR ecosystem.

The agreements were signed on 30 September, the second day of FICCI FRAMES 2026, held at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai on 29 and 30 September.

IICT signed the agreements with Motion Picture Association India, Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT), E-Sports Games Federation (ESGF), RioWood and Warm Up Ventures.

The signings took place in the presence of Ashish Shelar, Minister of Electronics, Information Technology, AI & Cultural Affairs, Government of Maharashtra, along with senior representatives and stakeholders from the participating organisations.

At the heart of the agreements is a common objective: bringing education and industry closer together while creating more opportunities across animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, extended reality and related creative technologies.

The partnerships will focus on knowledge exchange, industry exposure, student and professional opportunities, and stronger links between emerging talent and the global media and entertainment industry. The C-DIT partnership will also support the establishment of the Kerala State Centre of Excellence for AVGC-XR in Thiruvananthapuram.

Munjal Shroff, chairman, FICCI-AVGC XR, said the opportunity for India’s AVGC-XR sector lies in connecting talent and technology more closely with the global media and entertainment business.

“India’s AVGC-XR opportunity lies in building stronger connections between talent, technology and the global media and entertainment industry. Partnerships such as these bring industry exposure closer to learners while strengthening the institutional ecosystem required for India to play a larger role in the global creative economy,” said FICCI-AVGC XR chairman Munjal Shroff.

For IICT, the agreements are part of a broader effort to build an ecosystem where students and emerging creators can move more easily from learning to real-world opportunities.

“these partnerships reflect IICT’s commitment to building a future-ready creative technology ecosystem. By linking students and emerging creators with leading global organisations, we aim to turn skills and ideas into opportunities and strengthen India’s position as a global creative economy hub,” said IICT founding director Ashish Kulkarni.

IICT chief executive officer Vishwas Deoskar said the focus would be on creating stronger connections between education, industry and technology, while giving students greater exposure to international practices and industry-led learning.

“IICT is focused on building meaningful connections between education, industry and technology. These partnerships will provide our students and emerging creators with greater exposure to international practices, industry-led learning and real-world opportunities,” said IICT chief executive officer Vishwas Deoskar.

The agreement with the Motion Picture Association brings an international film, television and streaming industry perspective into the initiative. Motion Picture Association president and managing director, Asia Pacific, Urmila Venugopalan said the partnership would help equip India’s next generation of creators with global perspectives and industry insights.

“The future of creativity will be shaped by the intersection of storytelling, technology and talent. We are delighted to partner with the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) to help equip the next generation of Indian creators with global perspectives and industry insights,” said Motion Picture Association president and managing director, Asia Pacific, Urmila Venugopalan.

Venugopalan also linked the collaboration to an earlier industry-government dialogue involving Motion Picture Association chairman and chief executive officer Charlie Rivkin and Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. According to her, that conversation helped launch the Creative Economy track at the start of the AI Impact Summit in February this year.

The C-DIT agreement has a specific Kerala focus. C-DIT registrar Jayadev Anand A.K. said the proposed Centre of Excellence would bring together technology, skills, industry engagement and innovation to support talent and enterprises in the state.

“The partnership with IICT will provide an important foundation for strengthening Kerala’s AVGC-XR ecosystem. Through the proposed Centre of Excellence, we look forward to combining technology, skill development, industry engagement and innovation to create new opportunities for talent and enterprises in the state,” said C-DIT registrar Jayadev Anand A.K.

The international dimension extends to Brazil through RioWood. RioWood founder Ravi Velhal said the Rio de Janeiro-based organisation would work with IICT on education, AI and media technology initiatives, connecting two creative ecosystems around the future of entertainment.

“RioWood, Rio De Janeiro Brasil is pleased to announce entering into MoU with IICT to collaborate on ‘Education, AI and media technologies initiatives’ between two vibrant content ecosystems to promote innovation and future of Entertainment 3.0,” said RioWood founder Ravi Velhal.

Taken together, the five MoUs widen IICT’s network across film and entertainment, technology, esports, education and international creative markets. The immediate focus is on turning these institutional links into industry exposure, skills, innovation and new pathways for creators and professionals, giving India’s growing creative economy another route from classroom to screen.