Cannes: Reliance BIG Entertainment, the media and entertainment arm of the $75 billion Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group, Friday announced that it would spend $1 billion on the Indian film and entertainment business over the next 12-15 months.

This is by far the biggest commitment made by an Indian entertainment company for show business.

Amid the glitter and glamour at the 61st edition of the Cannes Film Festival at the French Riviera, Reliance BIG Entertainment also revealed that 69 films in nine languages would be ready for distribution over the next 18 months. Over a dozen films will be released this year.

"India is uniquely positioned in the global economic order. We believe this is the right time to make this commitment of $1 billion for the film entertainment business," said Amit Khanna, chairman of Reliance Entertainment.

"We believe we are creating 21st century's truly integrated media and entertainment company. Our $1 billion spend is bigger than the cumulative investments of all other Indian players put together in this space. We will continue our aggressive expansion plans in film exhibition and leverage synergies to our growing production and distribution pipeline."

The Indian entertainment business is a $4 billion industry, growing at 18 percent annually.