The government is preparing a strategy to harness the potential of the AVGC industry to create 20 lakh employment by 2030.
With the government preparing school curricula and dedicated undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the expanding AVGC, aspiring animators, gamers, and visual effect artists may soon find their interests mainstreamed in the Indian educational and job systems (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics).
The objective is to tap into the segment's potential, which has the potential to produce 20 lakh jobs by 2030, compared to the existing employment base of 1.85 lakh individuals.
The governmental AVGC panel on Monday suggested a range of steps to establish a landscape for education, skilling, and employment of sector aficionados as the roadmap to enable India to duplicate the IT boom in the AVGC sector.
The development of NCERT- and CBSE-approved school curriculum for the Class 6 to 12 level, as well as the establishment of dedicated UGC-approved undergraduate and post-graduate degrees, is a top recommendation.
Bachelor/PG in Experiential Arts (Gaming); Bachelor in Graphic Arts (Comics and Animation Design); Bachelor in Cinematic Arts (Comics/Animation/VFX); Bachelor of Creative Arts and Sciences; Bachelor in Visual Arts (separate degrees for Game Art Design; Visual Effects; Animation Art and Design Digital Filmmaking); and Bachelor of Science in Game Development are among the ten degree courses recommended for formalisation by the UGC.
On Monday, the task team led by Information and Broadcasting Secretary Aporva Chandra submitted its proposals to the government, proposing a National AVGC Mission to implement the plan.
The education ministry will develop a panel of AVGC specialists for higher educational institutions to pick from before the next academic session. "AVGC sector experts will be permitted to teach under UGC's Professor of Practice scheme and the panel of experts to choose from will be ready by the next session”, said Higher Education Secretary K Sanjay Murthy.
The government anticipates that by 2024, 400 institutions would be offering AVGC Courses, with a curriculum designed in close collaboration with industry professionals led by Ashish Kulkarni of the Shaktimaan cartoon series fame.
The AVGC sector is worth USD 370 billion globally, with animation accounting for USD 170 billion and games accounting for USD 200 billion. India accounts for about 1% of the worldwide market.
"Standardisation of AVGC education content will help boost the sector's potential," Chandra highlighted.
The task force was established in April of this year in response to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget declaration on the subject.