MAM
India’s Adventz signs $2-bn MoU with Israeli Lesico
MUMBAI: Adventz Group, the Indian global conglomerate, has signed a US$2-billion-plus memorandum of understanding with Israel’s Lesico group to collaborate in the light rail transit (LRT) projects in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The announcement came today in the backdrop of a top-level Indian political and business delegation led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi touring the nation currently. The historic visit – first time for any Indian PM – is being seen as a watermark in deepening economic and trade relationships between New Delhi and Tel Aviv.
The MoU between Lesico with Adventz Group will be a first for an Indian conglomerate with Group company Texmaco Rail & Engineering Limited, which will lend its exeprtise in building the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area Mass-Transit System. TEXMACO’s role involves laying of tracks, installation of signaling, electrification, power sub-stations, and, command, control & communication equipment.
Adventz Group chairman Saroj Kumar Poddar said: “The MoU showcases Indian companies’ ability to not just serve the nation but also take their expertise elsewhere in the world.”
As per the MoU, TEXMACO’s expertise is being sought in track-related works for the Tel-Aviv Red-Line and Jerusalem Green-Line LRT projects. The Tel-Aviv red line will be the first section of Light rail system in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area and the line will run in the northeast part of the Capital city with a significant portion of it underground. The total cost of the red line is estimated at approximately US $3 billion. The 19.6 km Jerusalem Green line will link the two campuses of the Hebrew University and continue towards South of the Holy City. There would be 36 stops in the Green Line, and is predicted to be used by 2 Lac passengers per day.
Lesico Group chairman Jechiel Leshman, said, “The success of the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area Mass-Transit System will lie in as much as it will touch every citizen’s daily life. The TEXMACO-Lesico collaboration goes beyond our joint capabilities; we are building for our future.”
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.
