In a major boost to India’s creative economy, the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) and Netflix have joined forces to offer scholarships to 100 students and working professionals, covering up to 80% of program costs across six specialised courses in animation, visual effects, gaming and comics.
The initiative, announced on 26 August 2026 in Mumbai, marks a significant step in building a future-ready talent pipeline for India’s booming Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector — often called the “Orange Economy.”
The six programmes eligible for the scholarships include two one-year diploma courses — Interactive Comics & Sequential Arts and Visual Effects Mastery — and four six-month certificate programmes: Virtual Art Department Content Creation, Media Tech Workflow, Art of Character Animation, and E-Sports & Gaming Management.
This collaboration flows directly from the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos on 5 August 2026. At that meeting, the Prime Minister highlighted India’s rich storytelling tradition and vast creative talent, calling for India to emerge as a global hub for content creation. The Netflix India Storytelling Initiative was launched with the goal of equipping the next generation of creators with industry-relevant skills.
“India’s creative economy is at an inflection point,” said Shri Chanchal Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Chairman of the IICT Board. “As technology transforms the way stories are created, the institutions shaping the next generation of talent must evolve with it. Partnerships with leading global players bring industry knowledge into the classroom and help develop India’s talent into the creative workforce of tomorrow.”
Dr Vishwas Deoskar, CEO of IICT, emphasised the practical impact: “This collaboration with Netflix brings industry perspective directly into our academic framework — from curriculum design and professional workflows to the standards students will be expected to meet. By combining structured education with direct industry inputs and financial access, we aim to create a stronger pipeline of talent ready to contribute to India’s growing creative economy.”
Notably, the curricula for the Visual Effects Mastery and Media Tech Workflow programmes have been developed with inputs from Netflix to ensure they align with contemporary global industry standards and workflows.
Munjal Shroff, Chairman of the FICCI AVGC-XR Forum, described the partnership as a shift towards truly industry-aligned talent development that will build a future-ready workforce for India’s AVGC-XR sector.
IICT, India’s national centre of excellence for the AVGC-XR sector, was established by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in partnership with the Government of Maharashtra, FICCI and CII. It currently operates from the NFDC Complex on Pedder Road, Mumbai, while a permanent 10-acre campus is under development at Film City, Goregaon.
The scholarships are open to students and working professionals across India. For full details on eligibility, application process and programme information, visit iict.org.
