WAVES Summit 2025: Key Takeaways for Media & Entertainment
The inaugural World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES 2025) in Mumbai wasn't just another industry conference—it was a defining moment for India's creative economy. Held from May 1-4, 2025, at the Jio World Convention Centre, the summit brought together over 10,000 delegates from 90+ countries, marking India's bold declaration to become a global media and entertainment powerhouse. The event generated Rs 1,328 crores in business deals and established India as a serious player in the global creative landscape.
Modi’s Vision: The Orange Economy Dawn
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inaugural address set the tone for the entire summit. He declared WAVES as "not just an acronym, but a wave of culture, creativity and universal connectivity". His call to global creators was clear: "Create in India, Create for the World." Most significantly, he announced this as the dawn of India's "Orange Economy"—referring to the creative sector's growing contribution to GDP. He urged creators worldwide to dream big and tell their stories, investors to invest not just in platforms but in people, and Indian youth to tell their "one billion untold stories to the world". This positioning of India as both a creative hub and a storytelling powerhouse signals a strategic shift from being just a service provider to becoming a content originator.
The government's commitment extended beyond announcements to concrete infrastructure development. Maharashtra signed MoUs worth Rs 8,000 crores in the M&E sector. Policy support includes 100% FDI allowance in the AVGC sector, state-level subsidies, and the creation of specialized educational institutions. These measures address long-standing industry concerns about regulatory clarity and institutional support.
Industry Giants' Commitment to India
The summit featured remarkable commitments from global industry leaders. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos discussed India's importance in global OTT strategy, while YouTube CEO Neal Mohan revealed that Indian content generated 45 billion hours of international watch time in 2023. These numbers underscore India's growing influence as both a content creator and cultural exporter.
The Global Media Dialogue brought together ministers and policymakers from 77 countries, resulting in the adoption of the "WAVES declaration". This diplomatic dimension elevated the summit beyond industry networking to strategic international partnership building.
Adobe's CEO Shantanu Narayen painted India as "the world's next creative superpower," highlighting that over 100 million content creators and 500 million OTT consumers call India home. His four-pronged strategy for Indian creative leadership focused on supercharging creativity and production, innovating business models, building an AI-skilled workforce, and fostering entrepreneurship. With AI-powered tools are making high-quality content creation accessible to smaller creators and studios, AI-assisted production pipelines are breaking down traditional barriers between high-budget productions and independent creators.
The financial commitments were substantial. The Union I&B Ministry announced a $1 billion Creator Economy Fund to provide creators with access to capital, skill development, and production facilities. Additionally, the establishment of the Indian Institute of Creative Technology in Mumbai signals long-term institutional support for creative education and development.
NVIDIA's AI Revolution in Creative Industries
One of the summit's most significant technological discussions came from NVIDIA's presence, led by Vice President Richard G. Kerris and Managing Director Vishal Dhupar. Their message was transformative: AI doesn't replace artists but accelerates their capabilities. Kerris emphasized that "developers are so key to what's taking place with AI, because they understand how an application works... so they can harness the power of AI and bring it to fruition".
NVIDIA showcased their "Media Two stack," bringing together various AI components in an accessible manner for developers. The demonstrations included Fugato for AI-generated music composition, multilingual voiceovers with realistic lip-syncing, and the revolutionary Cosmos foundational models enabling real-time video generation. These technologies represent more than incremental improvements—they're reshaping the fundamental workflows of content creation.
The company's vision for India was particularly compelling. As Kerris noted, "India has long exported talent. Now it can export culture". This shift from service provider to cultural exporter, powered by AI tools, represents a significant evolution in India's media industry positioning.
Cultural and Creative Identity
Beyond technology and business, WAVES 2025 emphasized India's unique cultural position. The Bharat Pavilion, spanning 1,470 square meters under the theme "Kala to Code," celebrated India's journey from ancient oral traditions to cutting-edge technological innovation. This narrative positioning—combining traditional storytelling with modern technology—offers India a distinctive identity in the global creative marketplace. Featured traditional art forms including traditional folk dances, martial arts, and drumming performances all aided to demonste how India can leverage its cultural diversity as a competitive advantage in content creation.
The Road Ahead
WAVES 2025 established several key principles for India's media and entertainment future. The focus on original IP creation, technology-enabled production capabilities, and global partnership building provides a roadmap for industry growth. The $9.1 billion market projection by 2029 and potential for $63 billion in investor value creation by 2029 provide concrete targets for industry development. Most importantly, the summit positioned India as a creative leader rather than just a service provider. The combination of technological capability, cultural richness, cost competitiveness, and government support creates a unique value proposition in the global entertainment landscape.
WAVES 2025 wasn't just a summit—it was India's declaration of creative independence and global ambition. The follow-through on commitments made and partnerships established will determine whether this marks the true dawn of India's Orange Economy or simply another ambitious beginning.