Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Maharashtra on Thursday and inaugurated the country’s first-of-its-kind World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai. While addressing a gathering at the summit, the Prime Minister reached out to artists, content creators, creative thinkers, and innovators from across the globe. He also emphasised that WAVES 2025 has united artists, innovators, investors, and policymakers from over 100 countries under one roof, marking a significant step in nurturing a worldwide ecosystem of talent and creativity. Highlighting the essence of the summit, he said that WAVES is not just an event—it is a global platform that belongs to every artist and creator, symbolising India’s commitment to shaping the future of media and entertainment through collaboration and innovation.
PM Modi also batted for creative responsibility, saying technology is playing an increasingly important role in people's lives and extra effort was needed to maintain human sensitivity. "Humans should not be turned into robots. We need to make them more sensitive," he stressed. The Prime Minister called for protecting the young generation from anti-humanity ideas. His comments came amid increasing debate over controversial online content, which has prompted the Supreme Court to seek response from the government. The Prime Minister said the WAVES has the potential to provide global talent a platform at a time when India is emerging as an international hub for film production, digital content, gaming, fashion, music and live concerts. "Like Indian 'khana', I am sure Indian 'gaana' will also become globally popular," he said, adding the screen size may be becoming mini but the message (India's stories) is becoming mega.
The four-day summit, being held under the tagline "Connecting Creators, Connecting Countries", is a landmark initiative to position India as a global hub for media, entertainment, and digital innovation. The summit is bringing together creators, startups, industry giants, and policymakers from across the world. Reflecting the Prime Minister’s vision of harnessing creativity, technology, and talent to build a brighter future, WAVES 2025 encompasses a wide range of domains including films, OTT platforms, gaming, comics, digital media, AI, AVGC-XR, broadcasting, and emerging tech.
Aim of WAVES 2025
One of the major highlights of WAVES 2025 is its ambitious goal: to expand India's entertainment market to $50 billion by 2029, and to significantly boost the country’s share in the global entertainment economy. For the first time, India will also host the Global Media Dialogue (GMD) during the summit, where ministerial-level representatives from 25 countries will engage in strategic conversations, signalling a landmark moment in India’s partnership with the international media and entertainment ecosystem.
The summit will also witness the launch of the WAVES Marketplace, a global e-market platform bringing together over 6,100 buyers, 5,200 sellers, and 2,100 projects, fostering large-scale networking and business opportunities between domestic and international stakeholders.
PM Modi to interact with creators
During his visit, Prime Minister Modi will tour the "Creatosphere" zone and interact with selected creators from the 'Create in India' challenge, a nationwide initiative that received over 1 lakh registrations since its launch last year. He is also scheduled to visit the Bharat Pavilion, which will display India's creative achievements across multiple verticals.
It is to be noted here that WAVES 2025 promises a grand global gathering, with participation from more than 90 countries, 10,000+ delegates, 1,000 creators, over 300 companies, and 350+ startups. The summit agenda includes 42 plenary sessions, 39 breakout sessions, and 32 masterclasses, covering areas like broadcasting, infotainment, AVGC-XR, film, and digital media.