India’s dynamic financial ecosystem ambitions were prominently showcased at the WAVES 2025, the first-ever World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit. This groundbreaking event reported over b.1 billion in media and entertainment deals and investment pledges secured during the four-day summit, marking a significant milestone for the industry.
Hosted in the vibrant city of Mumbai from May 1–4, and envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the summit gathered delegates from over 100 countries, representing 3,100 companies and attracting an impressive 100,000 participants from diverse sectors including film, technology, music, gaming, streaming, and policy. According to the official WAVES 2025 outcome report released on Friday, this event was instrumental in fostering new international partnerships, state-sponsored infrastructure investments, and extensive commitments toward creator development.
As the capital of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, Mumbai serves as the heart of the Hindi-language Bollywood film industry. The Maharashtra government played a pivotal role in the reported deal flow, signing memoranda of understanding totaling INR8,000 crore (approximately $930 million). This included a major commitment of INR3,000 crore (around $349 million) from Prime Focus to develop a sprawling 200-acre Film City. Additional MoUs were established with the University of York and the University of Western Australia (each valued at INR1,500 crore or $174 million), as well as Godrej for educational and media infrastructure projects worth INR2,000 crore (about $232 million).
The newly launched WAVES Bazaar, envisioned as a permanent global marketplace for media and entertainment deal-making, successfully facilitated INR1,328 crore (approximately $154 million) in business transactions during the summit, as reported. This innovative platform hosted over 3,000 B2B meetings and recorded seven significant international agreements. Among these was a €30 million (around $34.9 million) Indo-European co-production agreement between India’s Broadvision Views and Luxembourg’s Fabrique d’Images, as well as a co-development MoU for a UK-India television series between The Bridge and Graphiti Studios. The film “Jahaan”, starring Tiger Shroff, also captured the attention of international distributors.
The Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) forged industry partnerships with leading companies like Apple, Adobe, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Star India, and NVIDIA. These collaborations are aimed at enhancing training, rendering, intellectual property development, and job creation within the creative technology sector. Furthermore, the introduction of the Nifty WAVES Index, which encompasses 43 listed media and entertainment companies, marks a significant step toward tracking the financial performance of this vibrant sector on Indian stock markets.
The summit’s Create in India Challenge attracted over 100,000 registrations from more than 60 countries and featured a diverse array of 34 creator competitions across various disciplines including animation, music, XR, film, gaming, and digital design. The grand finale of this initiative took place at Creatosphere, a designated area for talent discovery and innovation, which the government plans to develop into a year-round platform for fostering creativity and collaboration.
Startups were in the spotlight at WaveX, where 30 startups were selected from a competitive pool of 1,500 to pitch their innovative ideas to prominent investors such as Lumikai Ventures, Mirae Asset, Microsoft, and WarmUp Ventures. The report from WAVES indicates that a total of 127 startups were successfully matched with investors and partners through this initiative, highlighting the potential for emerging businesses in the creative industries.
The summit featured an impressive lineup of 140 conference sessions and plenaries with notable appearances by industry leaders including Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix; Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe; Mark Read, CEO of WPP; and Mukesh Ambani, chair of Reliance Industries. Neal Mohan, the CEO of YouTube, announced an ambitious INR850 crore (approximately $99 million) investment to enhance India’s thriving creator economy, underscoring the country’s potential given its diverse and multilingual creative talent. “India is not only leading in music and film – it is now emerging as a creator nation,” Mohan emphasized.
Prominent figures from the Indian film industry, such as Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan, Chiranjeevi, Mohanlal, Rajinikanth, Nagarjuna, Hema Malini, Anupam Kher, and Mithun Chakraborty, were also present at the summit. Many of these celebrated actors served on the official advisory board or participated in key sessions and cultural events, further elevating the event’s status and impact on the industry.
During the Global Media Dialogue</, attended by representatives from 77 nations, the “WAVES Declaration” was adopted, representing a collective commitment to ethical AI, digital equity, content integrity, and cross-border collaboration in the creative industries.
The cultural programming at the summit was equally ambitious. “Waves of India,” a collaborative album featuring original compositions by renowned Oscar winners M.M. Keeravani and A.R. Rahman, as well as Meet Bros, was launched on the opening day. Other highlights included captivating classical and folk performances, innovative fusion acts, and international showcases from Mexico, Malaysia, and Indonesia, offering a rich cultural tapestry representative of global artistry.
According to the WAVES report, this summit is set to become an annual event each February. Components like WAVES Bazaar and Creatosphere are expected to evolve into permanent global platforms that will support ongoing deal-making and talent development throughout the year. As Prime Minister Modi stated during the inaugural session, “This is the right time to create in India and create for the world.”
