The media and entertainment industry is going through a major transformation powered by AI and digital innovations, shifting from the traditional studio models to software and digital platforms. Mumbai has always been the mecca of Indian cinema and the entertainment industry, a tremendous revenue and employment generator. However, it’s time to adopt the changes to foster development in the prevailing and future trends to give Mumbai a competitive edge.
WAVES 2025, India’s first-of-its-kind World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit, was held at the Jio World Centre, Mumbai, from May 1 through May 4, 2025. The summit encompassed the expansive world of films, music, gaming, animation, and storytelling to offer a global platform for artists and creators to connect and collaborate. Jointly organized by the central government and the Maharashtra government, this landmark initiative, estimated to unlock a $50 billion market by 2029, was a strategic move to position India as a global powerhouse in media and entertainment.
Devendra Fadnavis, being an informed and digitally proficient CM of Maharashtra, recognized the convergence of all media and entertainment content into digital platforms as a major trend with new business potentials. This shift, driven by digitalization and the internet, sees industries merging various media forms for enhanced functionality and growth. Key aspects of this convergence include immersive experiences, AI-powered content creation, and interactive media, leading to new avenues for audience engagement and revenue generation. Besides his other initiatives for the development of Maharashtra, Fadnavis envisioned making Mumbai a major center in the evolution of broadcasting, film, animation, gaming, music, and digital media industries, with support from the central government. Mumbai would be the best choice for such an endeavor, as it already has an ecosystem in place and is the pioneer and the capital of the Indian film industry.
That was what led to this glorious event called the WAVES 2025 summit, the largest of its kind in Asia, spread across 15,000 square meters, hosting over 100 exhibitors from across the globe. The event draws together an impressive mix of creative minds, industry titans, and policy leaders, fostering partnerships across film, gaming, OTT, music, digital advertising, animation, and immersive tech. A total amount of investments worth Rs. 8000 cr. has been made, and several important MoUs have been signed. Maharashtra is going to witness the start of a new era of a wide range of creative industries.
Like the Film City in Goregaon, a modern Film City will be set up in Panvel using cutting-edge technology. At the same time, a movie theater with the world’s largest screen will be set up in Nagpur. The drive to usher in the trending and multi-platform media and entertainment industries will create thousands of job opportunities in the state. The government is also keen to create a large pool of skilled manpower to develop the new industries. Leading universities from abroad have signed MoUs with the government of Maharashtra for setting up their campuses in the state, providing the advanced courses on media and entertainment.
Waves 2025 is an important platform to preserve cultural integrity
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first World Audio-Visual and Entertainment Summit – Waves 2025, held from May 1 to 4. The event was organized at the Jio World Center in Mumbai. Artists, art lovers, investors, and policymakers from more than 100 countries attended the event. Underlining the importance of the celebration of creativity in the technology-filled 21st century, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed on the importance of art, music, dance, and other creative forms of expression and called for strengthening our creative traditions. Prime Minister Modi remarked that WAVES is not just an acronym; it is a wave of culture, creativity, and universal connectivity. The Prime Minister said that India is emerging as a global hub for film production, digital content, gaming, fashion, music, and live concerts. He called upon the creators of the world to dream big and tell their stories, the investors to invest not just in platforms but in people, and the Indian youth to tell their one billion untold stories to the world. Declaring WAVES as the dawn of India’s Orange Economy, he urged the youth to lead this creative surge and make India a global creative hub.
The four-day summit was held based on the principles of connecting creators, startups, industry leaders, and policymakers from all over the world with a call to make Mumbai their habitat for media, entertainment, and digital innovation. Representatives from over 90 countries participated in Waves 2025. This included over 10,000 delegates, 1,000 creators, over 300 companies and 350 startups. The summit featured informative seminars and hands-on workshops by people from various sectors, including broadcasting, infotainment, AVGC-XR, film and digital media. Nearly $50 billion market can be tapped through the Waves initiatives.
Investment of Rs 8,000 crore in Maharashtra!
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis signed 4 important agreements worth Rs 8,000 crore at the maiden Global Audio-Visual and Entertainment Summit called Waves 2025. Two agreements worth Rs 1,500 crore each were signed with the University of York, UK and the University of Western Australia, through CIDCO in Navi Mumbai. Also, an agreement worth Rs 3,000 crore was signed with Prime Focus Company and Rs 2,000 crore with Godrej Industries through the state’s Industries Department.
An Educity will be established in Navi Mumbai through CIDCO. The best universities in the world will be invited to set up their campuses. The new education policy will help Indian youth to study and earn degrees/diplomas from renowned foreign universities without having to travel abroad. An agreement was signed between ‘Prime Focus’ and the Industries Department of the Government of Maharashtra to create an ecosystem of world-class studios. About 2500 people will be directly employed through these studios. This project will start in 2025-26. As per the agreement signed with Godrej Industries, a media campus will be set up in Panvel, which will have an AA Studio as well. This project will start in 2027 and will create 2500 jobs. This project will be implemented in two phases.
Waves 2025 was no ordinary summit as it gave a new direction to the future of Maharashtra, bringing an investment of Rs. 8 thousand crores in the state, employment opportunities, international standard education. and a new state-of-the-art Film City with Global Studios. This helped Mumbai spread its recognition as a global entertainment hub. Kudos again to the visionary leader Devendra Fadnavis.