Telangana To Become Hub For Gaming and OTT Startups Soon With IMAGE Facility

Telangana IT and Industries Minister, KT Rama Rao, in his opening speech for Indiajoy 2019, on November 20, said that the state is poised to become a hub for the South Asian industry in the gaming, technology and entertainment space with world-class technicians, post-production facilities, VFX and post-production work for Holywood movies.

Indiajoy is one of the biggest gaming, media and entertainment festival in India, which commenced on November 20 in Hyderabad. The four-day event is being held at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC).

At the event, Rao said that there are over 250 gaming startups in the state of Telangana and the number is increasing. Citing an example of Chhota Bheem, which is an entertainment product from the state, Rao said that the animation industry is a $270 Bn market and has seen huge progress in terms of technological advancements. “It’s important to make localised animation content and usher in regional content for OTT platforms because the market potential is huge,” Rao added.

Moreover, Rao said that the government is planning to build an IMAGE (Innovation in animation, Multimedia, Gaming, and Entertainment) tower in the city spread over 16 lakh sq. ft. by 2021, which is said to help global giants to access gaming talent, resource and technology in one place. Through this, the government also plans to provide employment to people in Tier 2 and 3 cities. “We are easing the policy to encourage more firms to set shop in the state. Our main goal through an event like Indianjoy is to help SMEs in this space flourish and also bring in more publishers, marketeers, local producers and help them find their feet in Telangana,” said Rao.

After the inaugural speech ended, OTT Pulse and VFX Summit began, which was attended by leading OTT platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Viu, VOOT and ZEE5 alongside content creators, directors, film artists.

According to a report, the Indian OTT streaming market is estimated to reach $1 Bn by 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.82%. The growth will be driven by the penetration of smartphones, low-cost data and generation of quality content across various languages and categories.