Creative Industries in India – Mapping Study

Author: Graham Hitchen, Kishalay Bhattacharjee, Diviani Chaudhuri, Rohit K Dasgupta, Jennie Jordan, Deepa D, Adrija Roychowdhury·16 Sep 2025

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Reporting and Evaluation

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) India commissioned and co-funded the “Indian Creative Industries Report” which maps the creative industries in India. Loughborough University leads the project in partnership with Glasgow and Jindal Universities. The report also includes in-depth analyses of Creative Technologies and Circular Fashion and Design. It aims to generate a “heat map” of the creative industries and investigate “key opportunity sub-sectors” to locate areas of “the greatest potential” and “development of India-UK research and innovation collaboration.”

The Indian Creative Industries Report launch was launched on 22 Feb 2023 at the Shangri-La Hotel in New Delhi, hosted by UKRI India, in the presence of First Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Mugdha Sinha.

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Authors: Graham Hitchen, Kishalay Bhattacharjee, Diviani Chaudhuri, Rohit K Dasgupta, Jennie Jordan, Deepa D, Adrija Roychowdhury

Key Findings

Despite the variability and paucity of official data, there is a considerable scope for collaboration in the creative industries between the UK and India.
The report highlights three “Deep Dives” to address issues and opportunities in more depth: AVGC, Design for Sustainability and Geography.

AVGC

In 2021 the animation industry grew by 24% and the visual effects sector by more than 100%.

Online gaming grew by 18% in 2020 and by 28% in 2021.

In 2022, the Government of India launched an AVGC Task Force, stating that the AVGC sector has the potential to become the “torch bearer of Create in India and Brand India” policies.

Design for Sustainability

Sustainability is a driver for public policy and commercial innovation investment in India.

A number of government (such as MITRA parks, Project Su.Re) and private initiatives are actively addressing issues of sustainability, waste management and skills training for the Indian fashion and textile industry.

Geography

India is a vast country with large geographical hubs of activity and significant presence in regions across the country, supported by state-level policies.

Mumbai and Delhi are established clusters, but there are concentrations of media-related sectors emerging in cities in the South of India such as Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

Other areas for collaboration include work on IP policy and its application through “Geographical Indication”, potential collaborations with the Indian diaspora in the UK and understanding the informal nature of key sub-sectors.