News Broadcasting
Govt. creates a conducive environment to attract foreign investments in M&E sector including visual effects & animation
Mumbai: The government is continuously making efforts to portray India as an ‘incredible destination’ globally for filming. To make it a reality, the centre is focusing on various ways to ease out doing business in India, especially in the film and visual effects & animation sector. The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has offered foreign filmmakers incentives, which will provide an impetus to the Indian media & entertainment sector in future. “Media & entertainment, including visual effects and animation, is one of the fastest growing industries in the country,” the I&B minister Anurag Thakur told the Lok Sabha recently.
To boost the growth of the sector, Thakur further added that the government has set up the Film Facilitation Office (FFO) under the aegis of the National Film Development Corp.(NFDC), for providing a single window facilitation & clearance mechanism to accord online permissions for film shooting in India for both international & domestic filmmakers. In addition to this, NFDC organises “Film Bazaar” at the International Film Festival of India in Goa every year, which is the largest South Asian film market and attracts investors from around the world. The event encourages creative minds to come under one platform and collaborate with South Asian & international film communities.
The minister also emphasized attracting investment from foreign filmmakers and promoting India as a preferred filming destination. The government announced in May two schemes i.e., an incentive scheme for audio-visual co-production and an incentive scheme for the shooting of foreign films in India to increase investment and boost the growth of the M&E industry.
Currently, India has audio-visual co-production treaties with 15 countries, he mentioned and added, “This further enables international producers to invest in Indian projects.” Such collaboration helps in the effective contribution of technical, creative, and artistic personnel of the participant countries. Thakur mentioned that local IP creation and outsourcing work for foreign studios are key drivers of growth in the animation and visual effects industry.
“The contribution of the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute and the Film & Television Institute of India via courses on animation and visual effects is providing skilled manpower in the industry,” he told Lok Sabha while answering a query.
He mentioned that the government has also set up a task force earlier to unleash the potential scope of the animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics (AVGC) industry. The task force will monitor the development of progressive policies, promote growth and recommend incentives for increasing foreign direct investment in the AVGC sector. It will also help in developing world-class creative talent to meet domestic and global demand.
The M&E ecosystem is a sunrise sector and is expected to generate revenue of Rs 4 lakh crore annually by 2025 and reach Rs 7.5 lakh crore (100 billion dollars) by 2030.
News Broadcasting
Network18 Q4 revenue grows 9.7 per cent, EBITDA at Rs 30 crore
PAT improves to Rs 306.6 crore, margins steady amid cost pressures.
MUMBAI: Not all news is breaking, some of it is quietly improving. Network18 Media & Investments Limited appears to be doing just that, tightening losses and stabilising margins even as costs continue to weigh on the business. For FY26, the company reported revenue from operations of Rs 1,955.1 crore, up from Rs 1,896.2 crore in FY25, signalling modest top-line growth in a challenging media environment. Total income stood at Rs 1,978.2 crore, compared to Rs 1,913 crore a year earlier.
Profit after tax came in at Rs 306.6 crore for the year, a sharp turnaround from Rs 3,225.4 crore in FY25, largely reflecting the absence of large exceptional items that had inflated the previous year’s numbers. On a more comparable basis, the company’s operating performance showed signs of gradual stabilisation.
However, the quarterly picture remained under pressure. For the March quarter, Network18 reported a loss of Rs 53.1 crore, narrower than the Rs 98.1 crore loss in the same period last year, but still indicative of ongoing cost challenges.
Expenses continued to track high. Total expenses for FY26 stood at Rs 2,235.7 crore, up from Rs 2,197.8 crore in FY25. Key cost heads included operational expenses of Rs 765.9 crore, employee benefits of Rs 475.9 crore, and marketing, distribution and promotional spends of Rs 427.1 crore, underlining the continued investment required to sustain reach and engagement.
At an operating level, margins remained under strain. Operating margin stood at 2.33 per cent for FY26, marginally higher than 1.77 per cent in FY25, while net profit margin remained negative at -13.02 per cent, though improved from -14.89 per cent.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to Rs 8,957.6 crore as of 31 March 2026, from Rs 8,317.5 crore a year earlier. Equity strengthened to Rs 4,958.7 crore, while borrowings increased to Rs 3,112.8 crore, reflecting a higher reliance on debt to support operations.
Cash flows told a mixed story. While financing activities generated Rs 83.9 crore, operating cash flow remained negative at Rs -24 crore, highlighting ongoing pressure on core cash generation. Cash and cash equivalents, however, improved to Rs 33.9 crore from Rs 1.8 crore.
The numbers point to a company in transition growing revenues, trimming losses, but still grappling with structural cost pressures. In a sector where scale often comes at a price, Network18 seems to be inching towards balance, one quarter at a time.
