The National Film Development Corporation’s (NFDC) Achal Malhotra, who is the CEO of WAVES summit, spoke about why the convergence of the media and entertainment sector important at an event in Delhi recently. “India is a huge consumer market, and it’s a no-brainer to invest in a sector with such potential. Our global equity in the media and entertainment space is about 2%, which means we are only in the know in bits and pieces. However, when we aggregate everything together, it creates the momentum needed for a global summit.”
Malhotra was speaking at the India Digital Summit (IDS), organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, with support from Digital India and Skill India.
The WAVES 2025 summit is being organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, to celebrate and amplify India’s creative and media economy.
“WAVES (World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit) itself addresses the need that India requires to propel its economy further. There’s a lot of global interest in India because some of the parameters that attract investment are rising, which will catapult us to higher business statistics,” he said.
Addressing challenges while conceiving WAVES, Malhotra shared, “When we conceived WAVES, associations presented us with many challenges that were exciting for the entire country. This led to the launch of the Creative India Challenge Season 1 in August. We’ve had an exciting journey with these challenges, many of which have been embraced by various associations. One of the associations is our host for this summit. Everyone is contributing their energies and intellect to promote the ideology and mission of WAVES.”
“There is no more opportune time for India to have WAVES. Over the last 10 years, we’ve moved up the ranks. India is now seen as a promising investment destination. You cannot become the third-largest economy in the world without indicators showing growth. What this slide doesn’t show is that everything needs critical mass. Our demographic, with a median age of 28, has witnessed India’s rise over the past decade. We are now better positioned than ever before, especially as the 24-29 age group seems more promising,” he further added.
“The ideology that we can become a greater economy is more sellable today than it was just a few years ago. The market potential of India is something WAVES aims to tap into. As smartphone usage and data consumption rise, demand for more data is inevitable. This consumer-based market will drive new apps and artificial intelligence to work more disruptively, as it has in the past,” he stated.
There are no verticals in isolation in this space. Media and entertainment are compelling businesses to think differently about creativity and data. This is why it makes sense to bring everyone onto a single platform where they can hear each other’s ideas, pitch their own, and integrate them into a collective body, offering their best ideas year after year, Malhotra said.
Just like Davos is known as the economic forum, NFDC aims for this summit to become the global entertainment forum. “We aim to set up GCC (Global Competency Centers) in the country. Our primary goal is to bring key groups onto this journey,” Malhotra stated.
While discussing how the creator economy is being recognized as the new oil, Malhotra said, “It must remain connected seamlessly across the globe. If our economy is to grow and support this sector, there needs to be a collective movement built on a synergistic model. This cannot just be an India-only story; it must be global. This is why we envision this summit as a global event that attracts businesses to India and makes the country an investment-friendly destination. To make this happen, we need the best minds to come together and contribute their ideas within the framework we’ve built.”