India’s creative economy aspirations were on full display at WAVES 2025, the first-ever World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit, where a groundbreaking government report unveiled over $1.1 billion in media and entertainment deals and investment commitments sealed during the four-day event.
Taking place in Mumbai from May 1–4 and spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the summit brought together delegates from over 100 countries, 3,100 companies, and 100,000 participants across various sectors including film, technology, music, gaming, streaming, and policy. The official WAVES 2025 outcome report, released recently, highlighted the emergence of new international partnerships, state-funded infrastructure investments, and substantial commitments to fostering creator development.
Mumbai, known as the hub of the Hindi-language Bollywood film industry, witnessed the Maharashtra government leading the way in deal-making with memoranda of understanding totaling INR8,000 crore ($930 million). This included a INR3,000 crore ($349 million) pledge from Prime Focus to establish a 200-acre Film City. Additionally, agreements were inked with the University of York and the University of Western Australia (each INR1,500 crore / $174 million) and Godrej (INR2,000 crore / $232 million) for educational and media infrastructure projects.
The launch of WAVES Bazaar, a permanent global marketplace for media and entertainment deal-making, facilitated INR1,328 crore ($154 million) in business transactions during the summit. The platform facilitated over 3,000 B2B meetings and witnessed seven significant international signings, including a €30 million ($34.9 million) Indo-European co-production pact and a U.K.-India television series co-development agreement.
The Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) solidified industry partnerships with major tech players like Apple, Adobe, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Star India, and NVIDIA to bolster training, rendering, IP development, and job creation in the creative tech space. The launch of the Nifty WAVES Index, tracking 43 listed M&E firms, demonstrated a commitment to monitoring the sector’s financial performance on Indian stock exchanges.
The summit’s “Create in India Challenge” garnered over 100,000 registrations from 60+ countries and featured 34 creator competitions spanning various creative fields. The initiative culminated in Creatosphere, a talent discovery and innovation zone that the government plans to expand into a year-round platform.
WaveX showcased 30 startups pitching to prominent investors, connecting 127 startups to potential backers and partners. The event featured 140 conference sessions and plenaries with notable figures like Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, WPP CEO Mark Read, and Reliance Industries chair Mukesh Ambani.
The cultural programming at WAVES 2025 was equally impressive, with the launch of “Waves of India,” a collaborative album featuring original compositions by renowned artists. The summit concluded with the adoption of the “WAVES Declaration,” emphasizing ethical AI, digital equity, content integrity, and cross-border collaboration in the creative industries.
As per the WAVES report, the summit is slated to become an annual event in February, with plans to expand components like WAVES Bazaar and Creatosphere into full-time global platforms supporting year-round deal-making and talent development. Prime Minister Modi’s vision for the summit resonated in his statement, “This is the right time to create in India, create for the world.”
