Mumbai, July 18 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said that Mumbai, which is the entertainment capital of the country, will become the global hub of creative economy.

He was speaking at the inauguration of Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) and NFDC campus in the presence of Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Information Technology and Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw and state Minister for Cultural Affairs and Information Technology Ashish Shelar.

CM Fadnavis praised the Central government’s initiative for the grand international conference WAVES held in Mumbai, saying that Mumbai was not just the host city of this event, but it has become a movement.

Explaining the importance of the Waves Index related to the creative economy, he said that the value of this index was Rs 93,000 crore a few months ago. Now it has reached Rs 1 lakh crore. This shows the rapid growth of this sector.

He said that a special fund of Rs 150 crore will be sanctioned by the Maharashtra government to promote the next phase of the Creative Economy. The Waves Conference will now be held in Mumbai every year or every two years and the next event will be even more grand.

Regarding IICT (Indian Institute of Creative Technologies), CM Fadnavis said: “IICT will not only be a training institute but also an ‘iconic destination’. People will come here not only to learn but also to see. This institute will become the hub of the creative economy for the next generations.”

He also highlighted the importance of the India Pavilion created during the ‘Waves’ event and said that “it is a beautiful glimpse of our history of creativity”.

“As per the suggestion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this pavilion has now been permanently established in Gulshan Building. With this, a new attraction has been added to the tourist spots of Mumbai,” the CM said.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that this is just the beginning , and it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious idea to create a complete educational chain for creative technology like IIT-IIM.

“This is an initiative that will create new opportunities for the youth of the country. The aim of this institution is to provide cutting-edge technology, skills and world-class tools to those working in the creative economy. A fund of Rs 400 crore has been approved so far for the establishment of ‘IICT’, and the next big campus will be set up in Mumbai Film City. The building of ‘IICT’ will be designed keeping in mind its environmental and geographical features,” he said.

Minister Vaishnaw said that this ‘IICT’ has formal partnerships with global companies like Google, Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe and also an agreement has been signed with New York University. These courses have been designed keeping in mind the needs of the industry.

It will provide advanced training in areas like VFX, Gaming, XR, Post-Production and Animation. The target is to provide complete training to 300 students and trainers in the first year, and there will be courses of various duration ranging from 3 months to 2 years, he added.

He expressed his gratitude to Chief Minister Fadnavis, saying that Mumbai is the creative capital of the country and it is a matter of pride that India’s first IICT campus is being set up in such a city. He congratulated the Maharashtra government for making land available immediately in Film City as well.

On this occasion, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Prasar Bharati and Maharashtra Film and Development Corporation to promote innovation, skill competition and international competitiveness in the media and entertainment sector. Along with this, the logo of ‘IICT’ was unveiled. Union Secretary Sanjay Jaju informed about the outcome of the Waves Conference held in Mumbai.

–IANS

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