India’s media and entertainment industry needs to move beyond producing content at scale and focus on creating enduring economic value through intellectual property, sustainable creative enterprises and global markets, Prabhat, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said during his special address at FICCI Frames.

“The central question is no longer simply how much content we can create, it is how much enduring value we can create,” Prabhat said, pointing to the transformation brought about by smartphones and digital distribution.

“Almost anyone with a smartphone can create, distribution can be instantaneous. The opportunity is unprecedented,” he said.

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Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s observation at the first WAVES summit that “screen size may be getting smaller, but the scope is becoming infinite”, Prabhat said the transformation was now visible across the media ecosystem.

But scale alone, he said, would not be enough for the next phase of India’s creative economy.

Prabhat said India had demonstrated its ability to produce content at extraordinary scale, but now needed to focus on “value creation and value retention”. This would require stronger Indian intellectual property rights, sustainable creative enterprises, globally competitive studios, professional journalism, original music and creative technology businesses.

A large following or viral success, he cautioned, does not automatically translate into a sustainable business or ownership of valuable IP.

“A creator with millions of followers may have enormous reach, but reach alone does not necessarily create a sustainable enterprise,” he said. “Similarly, virality does not necessarily translate into ownership of intellectual property or long-term economic value.”

The next phase of the industry therefore needs to move “from followers to enterprises, from views to value, from production services to intellectual property, and from domestic scale to global markets”, Prabhat said.

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The remarks are also part of the broader thinking behind the ecosystem being developed around the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES). The Create in India challenges aim to identify talent across filmmaking, music, animation, gaming, VFX, XR and digital storytelling, while the Indian Skills and Capability Programme seeks to strengthen skills, research and capability in AVGC, XR and emerging technologies.

WAVEX is focused on building a startup and innovation ecosystem, while WAVES Bazaar connects creators and companies with buyers, investors and international markets.

Prabhat said WAVES Bazaar was now being designed as a year-round marketplace, rather than an event associated only with the summit. Initiatives such as MyWAVES and Creators’ Corner on DD News are also intended to provide emerging creators with greater opportunities for participation and visibility.

“Taken together, the objective is to create a simple pathway, identify talent, develop capability, support enterprise, connect markets, and take Indian creativity to the world,” he said.

Prabhat also flagged the growing challenges posed by misinformation, manipulated media and increasingly sophisticated synthetic content, particularly with the rapid development of generative AI.

“The coming wave of AI generated content will make questions of authenticity, provenance, copyright, attribution, and trust substantially more important,” he said.

He also raised concerns around obscene and harmful content, particularly when recommendation systems are optimised primarily for engagement.

“There is also a larger question about the design of digital media itself,” Prabhat said, pointing to infinite scroll, auto-play and continuously optimised recommendations.

“Infinite scroll, auto-play, and continuously optimised recommendations may increase engagement but their impact on users, particularly children and younger audiences, deserve serious attention,” he said.

Prabhat called for greater investment in original Indian IP and greater willingness to back new writers, creators, musicians, animators and game developers. He also said talent needed to be discovered beyond established industry networks, across Indian languages, states and smaller cities.

The government is also conscious of the need for stronger protection against piracy and content theft, he said.

“We need stronger protection against piracy and content theft because creativity cannot become a sustainable economic activity unless intellectual property has value,” Prabhat said.

He also called for greater collaboration between industry and platforms on responsible recommendation systems, accountability, child safety, transparency in digital advertising and fair economic opportunities for creators.

“These cannot be government responsibilities alone. A mature, creative economy requires responsibility across the entire value chain,” he said.

Prabhat concluded by returning to the formulation articulated by the Prime Minister at WAVES: “Create in India, create for the world, and create enduring value.”

“That, to my mind, is the real promise of India’s media movement,” he said.