MUMBAI: The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday approved the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) Policy 2025, which is expected to attract investments of more than Rs 50,000 crore and create two lakh jobs in the state.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. “This is an important step towards making Mumbai the capital of the entertainment and tourism sector and the Media, Entertainment and Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) sector. This sector has also been given the status of an industry and infrastructure sector,” Fadnavis said.
He said the policy is designed to bring in investments of about Rs 50,000 crore over the next 20 years and generate two lakh jobs in high-technology fields. The plan has been drawn up until 2050 with an outlay of around Rs 3,268 crore.
Calling the AVGC-XR sector a vital part of the country’s growing media and entertainment industry, Fadnavis said, “This sector is growing rapidly in India. The Media and Entertainment market is estimated to expand from the current $27 billion to more than $100 billion by 2030. Therefore, it is expected that more than 30 lakh direct jobs and more than 51 lakh 50 thousand indirect jobs will be created in this sector in India.”
The policy also aligns with the Maharashtra Economic Advisory Committee’s vision of making the state’s economy worth $1 trillion. Recently, the Central government organised the Waves 2025 international conference in Mumbai, where MoUs worth Rs 8,000 crore were signed.
Several states including Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh have already rolled out similar policies. Maharashtra, with more than 295 studios in this field, accounts for nearly 30 per cent of India’s AVGC-XR studios. Mumbai and Pune also have 20 institutions offering training in animation, visual effects, and gaming. The state had earlier recognised AVGC-XR as an emerging industry under its Information Technology and IT-enabled services Policy 2023.
Officials said the technology is now widely used in healthcare, education, marketing, defence, gaming, agriculture, and real estate. Examples include AR-VR medical simulations for patient care and medical training, immersive branding in marketing, defence simulations, and 3-D modelling with virtual tours in real estate.
“There is a huge scope for innovation, entrepreneurship, and intellectual property creation in this sector. This can also increase the inflow of domestic and international investment into the state. Therefore, Maharashtra has a great opportunity to become a global destination in terms of this sector. For this, various institutional units will be encouraged under this policy. Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) will act as the lead institution in this sector,” Fadnavis said.
The state also plans to develop dedicated AVGC-XR parks equipped with modern infrastructure to support startups, MSMEs, and larger companies in the industry.