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WAVES 2025 kicks off in Mumbai, showcasing India’s rising creative economy
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The four-day WAVES 2025 (World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit) officially opened today at the stunning Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. This marks the first time India is hosting the global summit for the audiovisual and entertainment industry, and the choice of venue is no coincidence: Mumbai is the heart of Bollywood, and India is the world’s leading film producer. With a population of 22 million, the bustling metropolis provided a fitting backdrop for this attention-grabbing global event.
WAVES 2025 in Mumbai
The opening ceremony featured renowned Bollywood actors and performers wowing the hundreds-strong audience with vibrant music and dance numbers. The summit includes 42 plenary sessions, 39 themed panels, and 32 masterclasses, covering areas such as AVGC-XR technologies, infotainment, digital media, and the film industry. More than 10,000 attendees, 1,000 creators, 300 companies, and 350 startups are participating. Distinguished guests included Maharashtra Governor Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan, Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis, and politician Dr. L. Murugan.
During the ceremony, Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s Minister of Railways, Communications, and IT, highlighted India’s dynamic media landscape: 800 radio stations, over 1,000 TV channels, and 20,000 online news portals, powered by approximately 40 million content creators. He announced the establishment of India’s first Creative Technology Institute in Mumbai. With a budget of INR 400 billion (approximately USD 4.8 billion), the institute will receive support from tech giants like Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, and NVIDIA. The facility will offer training in animation, video games, visual effects, and extended reality to nurture the next generation of creative professionals.
Mukesh Ambani, head of Reliance Industries and one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, described the summit as a strategic opportunity. He noted that India’s USD 28 billion media market could expand to USD 100 billion within a decade. Ambani emphasised the importance of artificial intelligence and immersive technologies in crafting a new era of storytelling, stating that India’s cultural industry serves not only as a soft power but also as a true economic and social engine.
Several speakers took a moment to remember the victims of the 22 April 2025 terrorist attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir. In the popular tourist town of Pahalgam, armed assailants affiliated with The Resistance Front (TRF)—a local wing of the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—launched an assault on civilians. About 1,000 tourists were in the area during the attack, which claimed 26 lives, including 25 Indian and one Nepalese citizen, and left dozens wounded. This marked the deadliest civilian attack in the region in recent years. The tragedy resonated even more deeply in Mumbai, which still remembers the 2008 attack by a 10-member Pakistani terrorist unit that left 166 dead after a 60-hour siege.
