KOLKATA: With animation-related jobs increasingly outsourced to India, home-grown animation companies are looking to enhance their skills and manpower to meet the growing demand.

One such is Kolkata-based Mayabious Art, an animation, graphic applications and IT software skills company, which plans to inaugurate six to seven centres of the Mayabious Digital Academy apart from doubling its headcount this year.

 “The strategy is to become an identity that would be recalled as the best project visualiser in the industry. We plan to come up with six to seven centres pan India,” says Mayabious Art CEO Akhil Bandhu Paul. “We believe that the Indian animation industry is set to clock stunning growth in times to come. Animation encompasses gaming, web designing, creative content, television commercials, games for internet, personal computer and consoles, has a strong need, and wide reach across sectors.”

To produce world-class animation, talent is a prerequisite. Hence, immediate attention needs to be given to creating and developing exceptional animation workers. According to Paul, the Mayabious Digital Academy helps them create their own manpower. “We are a Kolkata-based company with branches in Delhi and Bengaluru. Kolkata has a trend of talented and skilled manpower in the field of art. We have harnessed this talent to train them and cater to the needs of the entire world,” he says. “We at Mayabious Art have explored the opportunities, size and the factors that make the Indian animation market one of the most sought after arenas,” Paul adds about the growth prospects of the industry.

 Meanwhile, a media professional quotes a Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ report which says that the animation industry, estimated to be worth nearly Rs 1,100 crore back in 2006, is expected to grow at the rate of 22 per cent to reach Rs 5,400 crore by the end of this year. “At Mayabious Art, we are all geared up to meet the challenges and create and develop world-class professionals and results,” signs off Paul.