I&B Ministry
FICCI proposes a road map for M&E to Prakash Javadekar
NEW DELHI: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has called for constitution of a task force for improving screen density in India. This is also to ensure that entertainment tax is fully subsumed in the GST without creating a window for its levy at the local level.
In a road map presented to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, FICCI expressed confidence that this would provide the much-needed boost to the Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector.
A delegation led by FICCI president Sidharth Birla stated that the M&E sector had tremendous potential for dynamic growth and multiplier effect on employment generation without much spending from the public exchequer.
The ‘Policy Roadmap for the Media and Entertainment Sector in India’ comprises key recommendations for the television, film, print, radio, Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming & Comics (AVGC) and live events sectors.
In a move that will cause a lot of consternation among working journalists, the industry body has called for abolition of the Wage Board Act for the print sector and for urgent announcement of fiscal relief measures for newspapers.
The roadmap calls for early enactment of the amended Cinematograph Bill so that the rights of all stakeholders can be protected.
In the television broadcast sector, FICCI wants relaxation in FDI limits in news broadcasting and infrastructure status to the cable sector, apart from smooth and orderly implementation of digitisation.
The body urged the government to ensure that the process of auctions under FM Radio Phase III rolls out smoothly without any further delays. The auctions should be completed by September or October this year and Phase II licenses which expire from April 2015 are extended well before the end-date.
Referring to reduction in channel separation, the government must immediately accept Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s recommendations so that an FM revolution can be brought about. A larger number of radio stations will also mean more job creation and a much wider programming variety for the people of each city. The chamber has also called for allowing news in an unrestrained manner and increasing FDI in FM radio to 49 per cent.
For the AVGC Sector, it has recommended creation of an investment fund, incubation and market development fund, tax relief, skills and talent development, co-production treaties and focus on kids’ channel in terrestrial broadcasting space.
FICCI expressed its gratitude to the Minister on his announcement regarding the launch of a dedicated channel for kids and animation content on the national broadcaster Doordarshan.
Given the vast and intensive reach of Doordarshan across the country, this initiative will – by popularising kids and animation content – create a demand for original intellectual properties in the sector provide an enormous boost to its growth. Indian kids’ and animation content has long been battling the challenge of outpacing global competitors – and a dedicated forum for distribution such as an exclusive channel from the national public broadcaster will act as a boon for the sector.
FICCI expressed the hope that appropriate steps will be taken soon by Prasar Bharati and Doordarshan to make the vision of a kids and animation channel in the public broadcasting space a reality in the very near future.
It has been asking for creation of a dedicated kids and animation channel from Doordarshan for several years, and has been lobbying this initiative at various levels in the Ministry, as well as with Prasar Bharati and Doordarshan. FICCI had even taken a delegation of industry stakeholders to the Prasar Bharati CEO, a couple of years earlier and made a presentation for a dedicated kids channel by Doordarshan.
The benefits of a ‘DD Kids’ Channel’ would be manifold: not only would it be instrumental in catalysing original IP creation for animation and kids’ content in the country but also serve as a medium for the dissemination of content that is uniquely Indian in its cultural ethos.
While Indian myths and tales continue to be of interest to children in India today, broadcast content for children and animated shows continue to be largely dominated by foreign-made IPs.
Thus, the launch of a kids and animation channel by the national public broadcaster would ensure greater exposure for Indian-made content, which would in turn give a new lease of life to diverse value-based indigenous stories and allow for their packaging in attractive formats that appeal to today’s children.
The initiative will serve as a reinvigoration of our country’s rich cultural heritage and help inculcate quintessentially Indian mores and ethics in the young minds of India – compensating in some measure for the lost art of storytelling in today’s nuclear-family-dominant society.
I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
