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The Union Budget of 2026 in India throws the spotlight on the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) sector. For gamers and the AVGC sector as a whole, it is a case of hope and waiting: the proposal enhances skills, develops infrastructure, and provides opportunities in digital content, but competitive gaming is not yet ready to take the center stage. Esports is not directly funded, nor is it clearly defined in regulation, even as it grows alongside the industries that the budget is trying to strengthen.
AVGC Labs and Digital Push
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman specifically mentioned the AVGC sector as one of the cornerstones of the emerging “Orange Economy” in India and forecasted that the country would require 2 million professionals in this sector by 2030. To promote this growth, the government assisted the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) in Mumbai, which intends to set up AVGC Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges across the country. The labs will help students get introduced to animation, gaming, and digital storytelling from a young age and will help them turn their interests into practical skills.
The budget proposal is more than just training, allocating ₹12.2 lakh crore ($135 billion) for digital infrastructure. With improved connectivity, faster 5G, and reduced latency, the benefits are not just for streaming and content production—gaming and esports events will also benefit. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is expected to get an allocation of ₹4,480 crore (approximately $495 million) to launch a new Khelo India Mission, which will be a ten-year plan to transform the sports ecosystem. Esports is not mentioned in the plan, but experts believe that leagues, talent, and sports science could eventually open the door for esports to be included.
PROGA Keeps Online Gaming in Limbo
AVGC has its road map clearly outlined in terms of skills and infrastructure, whereas online gaming regulation is still pending. As of February 2026, PROGA, or the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, which was passed in August 2025, has not yet been enforced. The Supreme Court is considering a set of cases from the High Court to decide if the PROGA’s blanket ban on real-money gambling violates the constitutional right to engage in skill-based games such as poker and rummy. Until a decision is handed down, platforms remain stuck in a holding pattern.
Petitioners say PROGA was rushed without proper consultation, confuses the line between skill and chance, and is driving players towards offshore platforms, where usage is reported to have risen from 3.4 percent to 44 percent. The Centre justifies the law in terms of the risks of fraud, money laundering, security, and annual losses of approximately ₹20,000 crore (approximately $2.21 billion) affecting around 4.5 million consumers. Esports and social gaming remain legal, but violating the law can result in punishment of up to 3 years of imprisonment and fines of up to ₹1 crore (approximately $110,600).
Calls to Bring Esports into Policy
Industry experts consider the AVGC sector as a positive development but also emphasizing that the esports sector is not recognized or placed within the national policy framework. Shiva Nandy, Founder and CEO of Skyesports, said that structured skill training can help in the long-term development of competitive gaming, and that esports needs to be a part of the policy conversation, not just alongside it. He cited the MoU between Skyesports and IICT as an example that reflects the government’s efforts to connect students with actual opportunities in the esports and gaming industry.
Nandy cited the Chennai Esports Global Championship and the Tamil Nadu CM’s Trophy as evidence that esports is already making a difference in India, but also that policy has not kept up with the times. India has the players and the audience, but what we lack is a structured way forward and a robust regulatory framework that would enable esports to develop in a responsible manner and accord due importance to the digital and creative economy.
Skills, IP, and Infrastructure for a Creative Future
Others considered how the budget might transform the creative skills pipeline in India. Akshat Rathee, Co-founder and Managing Director of NODWIN Gaming, identified the scaling of creator labs and the support for IICT as a game-changer in terms of developing the digital skills pipeline in the country. He said that this will go a long way in training the next generation of animation, gaming, and storytelling skills, which are becoming increasingly important in the digital economy. As someone who manages large cultural IP properties such as NH7 Weekender and Comic Con India, he felt that the need for skilled talent to create immersive experiences is always there, and these could help increase the talent pool, accelerate the development of original IP, and improve the quality of game development.
Animesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO of S8UL Esports and 8Bit Creatives, felt that the budget’s focus on AVGC is a recognition of the fact that gaming and esports in India have grown at a rapid pace. Using his experience of building teams and organizations, emphasizing that disciplined skilling is the key to keeping up with this growth rate. The fact that the sector is expected to require 2,000,000 professionals by 2030, he said, is both a massive opportunity and a collective responsibility on the part of institutions and the industry to help develop this talent. Agarwal thinks that these initiatives can do more than provide young Indians with access to interesting career options; they could also help place India on the map as a global destination for animation, gaming, and digital storytelling.
Vishal Parekh, COO of CyberPowerPC India, emphasized that the AVGC creator labs in schools and colleges are an important move toward preparing the workforce for the future. With the sector expected to require 2,000,000 professionals by 2030, he said this push can speed up job creation and encourage more young people to pursue high‑value careers in gaming, animation, and visual technologies. For that vision to work, he underlined the need for high‑performance computing environments that match global standards. He sees this as an opportunity for CyberPowerPC India to supply the hardware that can help young creators innovate, compete, and lead, while strengthening India’s position as a creative and technology hub.
Sagar Nair, Head of Incubation at LVL Zero Incubator, further added that the distribution of content creator labs in schools and colleges reflects a strong commitment to the creative economy. Considering the fact that the AVGC sector is expected to need almost 2,000,000 professionals by the year 2030, the skill set in 15,000 schools and 500 colleges can provide students with earlier access to knowledge in animation, VFX, gaming, and comics. Although skills alone are not enough, when combined with incubation support and an entrepreneurial opportunity, it can assist content creators in developing their own intellectual property and competing in the international market. This collective effort can help increase the depth of the talent pool, create jobs faster, and position India as the global hub for digital content and creative technologies, even as esports waits for a clearer role in the policy framework of the country.
Source: SiGMA
