The creative industry in India now stands at $30 billion, responsible for the employment of nearly 8 per cent of the country’s working population, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said.

Minister Puri stressed that with creative exports increasing by 20 per cent last year alone, generating over $11 billion, “the industry is expected to see remarkable growth in the coming years”.

Speaking at the launch of the ‘All India Initiative on Creative Economy (AIICE)’ initiative in the national capital, the minister congratulated the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) for conceptualising a forum where creative industries could collaborate on various matters related to the sector.

According to the minister, an increasing number of Indians, especially youth, believe creative industries to be more appealing while also offering career security.

He stressed that this was an incentivising factor in boosting our creative exports, acknowledging the role of Bollywood and other local film industries in the creative economy of India.

“India has become the ‘Content Capital of the World’. In 2023, there were more than 100 million content creators in India,” the minister informed.

The minister further added that the country has the largest social media user base in the world and some of the fastest-growing social media networks find their biggest user base in the country.

AI is increasingly being utilised in newsrooms, with 41 per cent of news teams employing it to create illustrative art, 39 per cent for social media content, and 38 per cent for writing and generating articles.

“AI is not a threat. Instead, it offers a chance to lower costs, expand revenue streams, reach a broader audience, and access previously unreachable markets,” said the minister, emphasising the need for a robust regulatory framework around AI.

Highlighting his association with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Minister Puri cited its ‘Creative Economy Outlook 2024’ report to emphasise that the creative economy generates annual revenues of over $2 trillion and accounts for nearly 50 million jobs worldwide.