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New Delhi. The Union Budget 2026 has focused on India’s growing creator and digital media economy, in which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced plans to set up Content Creator Labs in educational institutions. The move aims to connect education with emerging creative and digital industries and prepare students for future-ready careers.

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Which sectors will be included?

Under the proposal, the budget plans to help Mumbai’s Indian Institute of Creative Technologies set up AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics) Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges. This initiative is aimed at strengthening India’s ‘Orange Economy’, which includes creative industries like media, entertainment and digital storytelling.

This budget will promote storytelling

The Finance Minister said that the aim is to promote creativity, storytelling and advanced media skills at the initial stage, as well as to create a skilled workforce for fast-growing sectors like animation, gaming and visual effects. Investment in the National Film Development Corporation and National Center of Excellence for AVGC-XR has been doubled to Rs 35 crore in the budget. Additionally, Rs 250 crore has been allocated for the development of AVGC talent in Budget 2026-27.

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In this, Rs 35 crore has also been allocated for National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) and National Center of Excellence for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics Extended Reality (NCoE AVGC-XR). This allocation is more than Rs 17 crore of Budget 2025-26.

Nirmala Sitharaman announced

In her budget speech, Nirmala Sitharaman said that India’s animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) sector is a growing industry, which will require 2 million professionals by 2030. Overall, these announcements are a good effort towards establishing India as a global hub for high-value digital content.

Crores allotted to Indian cinema also

The budget documents also show an allocation of Rs 344.55 crore for the promotion and protection of Indian cinema through film festivals, production of new films and documentaries. Besides, Rs 344.55 crore has also been given to provide Indian Cinema a national and international platform to showcase its work.

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