MoI&B, Maharashtra Govt, MFSCDCL & IICT Collaborated to Establish India’s First AVGC-XR Centre of Excellence in Mumbai.
National
In April 2025, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MoI&B) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Maharashtra and the Maharashtra Film, Stage & Cultural Development Corporation Limited (MFSCDCL), headquartered in Mumbai, to establish India's first-of-its-kind institute dedicated to Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR).
- The institute, named the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), will be set up at Dadasaheb Phalke Film City in Goregaon, Mumbai, and will be developed through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
- The MoU was signed in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with Sujata Saunik, Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, and Sanjay Jaju, Secretary of MoI&B, as the official signatories.
- The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) will be established as a not-for-profit Section 8 company under the Companies Act, 2013. The equity structure will include 34% by the Government of India, 14% by the Government of Maharashtra through MFSCDCL, and the remaining 52% equally shared between FICCI and CII, both headquartered in New Delhi.
Main Point :- (i) The Government of India has sanctioned an initial grant of ₹391.15 crore for infrastructure development and early operations. In addition, MFSCDCL has allotted a 10-acre land parcel within Film City, Mumbai, on a 30-year lease to facilitate the establishment of the institute.
(ii) IICT will initially operate from a temporary campus located at the premises of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) Limited in Mumbai. The institute envisions becoming a national centre for India's creative economy, fostering growth and innovation in the AVGC-XR sector.
(iii) Functioning as a Centre of Excellence (CoE), IICT will focus on training, education, research, and innovation in Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality. It will also form a Governing Council and sector-specific councils to maintain industry alignment, support global collaborations, and drive skill development and employment opportunities in the creative industries.
About Maharashtra
CM : Devendra Fadnavis
Governor : Chandrapuram Ponnusamy (C.P.) Radhakrishnan
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