Hindi
Date extended for co-production proposals at Film Bazaar in Goa
NEW DELHI: The Film Bazaar that will be held to coincide with the International Film Festival of India has extended the date for receiving projects for co-productions by another fortnight to 15 September.
This year’s Bazaar will feature a Romance Screenwriters’ Lab with six scripts in the romance genre mentored by leading Indian filmmakers and writers.
A new feature at the Bazaar this year is Film Offices for various states of the country for their film promotion and tourism boards, and film commissions for them to introduce their delegates to the visiting delegates, said National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) managing director Neena Lath Gupta.
In addition, the Bazaar will have networking events where discussions are held informally, Work-in-Progress Labs for films that are in rough-cut stage, NFDC Knowledge Series Lectures by renowned film personalities, and a branding opportunity for those getting themselves associated with the Bazaar which gets delegates from all over the globe.
Other sections include exhibition stalls for showcasing products and meetings with other delegates, Screenwriters’ Lab which will also have six scripts; and a Producers’ Lab for producers to learn the facets of production from leading Indian and international producers.
Aspiring film delegates include buyers and exhibitors, those looking for co-production opportunities, heads or representatives of International Film Festivals, film producers, and members of film distribution bodies.
The Film Bazaar has listed a large number of co-productions that have helped young filmmakers make a name for themselves in the international market, including Lunch Box by Ritesh Batra, Titli by Kanu Behl, Ship of Theseus by Anand Gandhi, Television by Mostofa Farooki, The Girl in Yellow Boots by Anurag Kashyap, Miss Lovely by Ashim Ahluwalia, Shanghai by Dibakar Banerjee; Monsoon Shootout by Amit Kumar, Karma by Prasanna Jayakody, Mumbai cha Raja by Manjeet Singh, and Paltadacho Munis by Laxmikant Shetgaonkar which have all won awards overseas and in India.
The Bazaar will be held from 20 to 24 November at the Marriott Resort in Panaji. The Festival itself is being held from 20 to 30 November.
Hindi
India’s telecom subscribers cross 1.32 billion in February 2026
Broadband base swells past 1.06 billion as Jio and Airtel tighten grip on the market.
MUMBAI: India’s telecom sector is ringing in steady growth once again adding millions of new connections every month while the race for broadband supremacy continues to heat up like a fiercely contested cricket match. According to the latest data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 1 April 2026, the total telephone subscriber base in the country reached 1,321.31 million at the end of February 2026. This marked a net addition of 7.31 million subscribers during the month, translating into a monthly growth rate of 0.56 per cent.
Wireless subscribers (including mobile and Fixed Wireless Access) stood at 1,273.31 million, registering a net addition of 6.97 million and a growth rate of 0.55 per cent. Within this, urban wireless connections grew to 730.75 million (growth 0.70 per cent), while rural wireless subscribers reached 542.56 million (growth 0.35 per cent).
Wireline subscribers, though much smaller in scale, showed slightly faster growth. The total wireline base increased to 47.99 million, with a net addition of 0.34 million and a monthly growth rate of 0.70 per cent. Urban areas continued to dominate wireline connections with a share of 89.41 per cent.
Overall tele-density in India improved to 92.66 per cent. Urban tele-density stood at 150.68 per cent, while rural tele-density edged up to 60.02 per cent.
The broadband subscriber base crossed a significant milestone, reaching 1,059.05 million at the end of February 2026. This reflected a healthy net addition of 6.33 million subscribers and a monthly growth rate of 0.60 per cent from January’s figure of 1,052.72 million.
Segment-wise, mobile wireless access continued to drive the majority of growth with 996.52 million subscribers. Fixed Wireless Access (including 5G FWA) added 16.51 million, while wired broadband stood at 46.02 million.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. maintained its commanding lead with 519.64 million broadband subscribers. Bharti Airtel Ltd. followed with 364.14 million, Vodafone Idea Ltd. with 129.36 million, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. with 28.70 million, and Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. with 2.38 million.
Together, these top five players command a massive 98.60 per cent share of the total broadband market.
In the wireless (mobile) segment, private operators continued to dominate with 92.59 per cent market share, leaving public sector undertakings (BSNL and MTNL) with just 7.41 per cent.
Out of the total 1,257.29 million wireless (mobile) subscribers, 1,177.60 million were active on the peak Visitor Location Register (VLR) date, representing an impressive 93.66 per cent activity rate. Bharti Airtel led in this metric with 99.42 per cent of its subscribers active.
Meanwhile, 14.47 million subscribers submitted requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in February, indicating healthy competition and customer churn across zones.
While urban areas still lead in absolute numbers, rural connectivity is slowly catching up. Rural wireless tele-density stood at 59.46 per cent, compared with the much higher urban figure of 142.32 per cent.
Fixed Wireless Access using 5G technology also showed promising traction, growing to 11.93 million subscribers. Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are the primary players driving this segment.
The data paints a picture of a maturing yet still rapidly expanding telecom ecosystem. With total telephone subscribers now well past the 1.32 billion mark and broadband users comfortably above 1.06 billion, India continues to solidify its position as one of the world’s largest and most dynamic digital markets.
From bustling city streets to remote villages, more Indians are staying connected than ever before proving that when it comes to telecom, the country’s appetite for growth shows no signs of hanging up anytime soon.
