India's animation industry can double in three years

Friday, 20 June 2003, 19:30 IST
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HYDERABAD: India's animation industry is poised to double in the next three years but it needs to tackle challenges like the lack of trained manpower and awareness about the industry, said speakers at a meet here. The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) organised the one-day Animation India 2003, the first national meet on the nascent industry. The speakers, including Nasscom president Kiran Karnik, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and industry experts from India and abroad, identified a lack of trained manpower, awareness of animation as a career, infrastructure and financial support as the challenges before the industry. It is estimated that the amount spent on animation by Indian producers -- which was $600 million in 2000 -- will touch $1.5 billion by 2005 while the global animation market is expected to grow from $45 billion to $51.7 billion by 2005. India has advantages like a vast base of English speaking manpower, low cost of production, a large entertainment sector, well-established studios and a rich cultural heritage that can be exploited for serials, said the speakers. Nasscom released a report on the animation industry, recommending boosting domestic demand and outsourcing. Providing access to easy and cheap finance, developing world-class infrastructure and talented manpower are the other three recommendations to tap the vast potential in the global animation market. Naidu extracted an assurance from Nasscom that it would hold a meet on the animation industry at Hyderabad annually and would make efforts to introduce courses in animation at the Hyderabad-based International Institute of Information Technology to address the problem of lack of trained manpower. India, which presently has 4,000 to 5,000 animation professionals, requires manpower of 20,000 to 25,000 to tap the potential. Amit Khanna of Reliance Entertainment said India was one of the most dominant players in IT software, the largest producer of motion pictures, third largest producer of television software and one of the top 10 players in the music industry. However, in terms of value India's share is only $4 billion in the global entertainment market of $1.18 trillion. He noted that animation was one sector that offered huge growth potential. "It grew by 100 percent during last two years and this is a healthy sign," he said, pointing out that of late Indian animation producers were doing creative work like the production of animation serials like "Tenali Rama". Pawan Kumar, chairman of Jadooworks, suggested that the animation industry follow in the footprints of the successful IT software sector. Referring to the tremendous potential in animation, he said that while it took 15 years for India to cross $1 billion in the software sector, it would take only three years for the animation industry to reach this milestone. He called for laying down a road map to achieve the $5 billion mark and said it would not be tough for India to capture five percent of the global animation market.
Source: IANS