Government of Karnataka announces Policy on Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics

BENGALURU: The Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology, Government of Karnataka unveiled a Policy for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector at an interactive session in Bengaluru yesterday.

Minister of State, IT, BT and Tourism, Priyank Kharge, Gaurav Gupta, IAS, Principal Secretary to the Government Dept. of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology and other senior officials were present at this interactive session. Some of the prominent leaders at the session included Biren Gosh, Country Head, Technicolor India, Rajesh Rao, CEO, Dhruva Interactive, Chairman, Nasscom Gaming Forum, Nandish, CEO, Xentrix Studios, Rakesh Mishra, VP Marketing, Target India, Pradeep Nair, Managing Director, Autodesk – India & SAARC, Easo Thampy Mathew, National Operations Head, Aptech LTD.

ABAI, a non-profit industry organization, has helped draft the KAVGC Policy.

Giving a fillip to the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) has announced the Karnataka Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics Policy (Next Gen KAVGC Policy). Recently approved by the Cabinet, the details of the policy were unveiled today at a gathering comprising industry leaders, trade commissioners, trade bodies and associations, academia and government officials.

The credit for Bengaluru’s current standing as a leading AVGC destination in India goes to Karnataka Government’s foresight in 2012, making it the first state to recognize AVGC as an emerging sector and announce a dedicated policy - the Karnataka Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (KAVGC) Policy. Now, the KAVGC Policy aspires to propel Bengaluru as a global AVGC hub.

Addressing the gathering to announce the new Policy, Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT, BT & Tourism, Government of Karnataka, said, “Next Gen KAVGC Policy takes a holistic approach, addressing areas of skill development, infrastructure growth, ecosystem expansion, marketing support as well as financial concessions and incentives. Our goal is to promote exports by attracting global production, while at the same time providing impetus to indigenous productions - in terms of original IP & short films - and start-ups in areas such as game development, virtual reality, augmented reality and educational technology.”

Given that talent is the mainstay for the creative sector of AVGC, the new policy focuses heavily on skill development with initiatives like industry-led finishing school, a proposed Centre of Excellence in partnership with a premier global institution.”

Adi Shayan, Honorary Secretary, ABAI, added, “The new policy offers unprecedented financial concessions and incentives , such as proof of concept grants for original IP and venture funds for start-ups and production grants aimed to support studios to invest back in manpower and technology resources to make them competitive on the global as well as domestic stage. These are landmark inclusions that will boost Karnataka AVGC sector’s position.”

To augment the successful Digital Arts Center Program, initiated as part of the earlier Policy, KAVGC Policy 2.0 aims to increase the number of Digital Arts Centers in Karnataka from 7 to 50. The idea is to bring the Fine Arts Colleges, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, into the mainstream by introducing industry-focused digital art training.

Further, the policy envisages hosting top global events in Bengaluru. An annual calendar comprising world-class flagship events like Bengaluru GAFX Conference, Elevate 100 and Bengaluru Tech Summit, together with micro events, will facilitate the creation of a vibrant ecosystem for knowledge sharing, business development, marketing and networking within the industry.

In terms of infrastructure, the Policy envisions setting up a world-class AVGC infrastructure with a Digital Media City that we will house the Center of Excellence, AVCG Post Production Lab (comprising an incubator, game testing facilities, render farm, etc.) and the latest state-of-the-art equipment.

KAVGC Policy 2.0 will extend support to start-ups, small-and medium-size companies to provide them with global exposure in terms of business development, selling IP, finding co-production partners, networking and getting acquainted with the latest business models.

Summarizing the significance of the new Policy, Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT, BT & Tourism, Government of Karnataka, stated, “AVGC is an important sub-sector of the IT industry and we are committed to make Karnataka a global AVGC destination, by ensuring that the KAVGC Policy 2.0 reaps the best yield.”