Shares of companies and startups in India’s Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) ecosystem are expected to benefit after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in Union Budget 2026–27, announced initiatives to strengthen the sector and boost employment.
The government plans to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, in setting up AVGC Content Creator Labs across 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges to nurture talent.
Shares of Zensar Technologies gained 3.60%, Tata Consultancy Services rose 0.82%, Onmobile Global and added 0.13%,
The Finance Minister highlighted the sector’s massive job potential, projecting that it will require 2 million professionals by 2030. She said the government aims to position India as a global hub for AVGC under a “Create in India” initiative, shifting from being primarily a consumption market to a content-creation economy. The government has also established a National Centre of Excellence (NCoE) to build a world-class talent pool.
In her statement, FM Sitharaman noted that following the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, the government is distinguishing between skill-based recreational gaming and harmful real-money betting games. The measures are designed to optimise growth, employment, and exports in the AVGC sector while assessing the impact of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, on jobs and skill requirements.