Ministry Launches India Cine Hub Beta to Boost Concert Economy

• The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting backs India Cine Hub beta, boosting India’s concert economy.
• The media and entertainment sector grew tenfold to ₹2.5 lakh crore, with WAVES and AVGC XR driving global reach.
• Sanjay Jaju, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, urged industry stakeholders to collaborate responsibly for the next few years.

India’s concert economy is set for a big boost as the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) plans to launch the beta version of India Cine Hub by the end of October. The platform will make getting concert approvals easier. Announced by I&B Secretary Sanjay Jaju at FICCI Frames 2025, the move aims to double India’s live entertainment market and rank the country among the top five globally by 2030.

Doubling India’s Concert Economy

Sanjay Jaju said the government will double India’s concert economy, as artists like Diljit Dosanjh and Arijit Singh fill stadiums and drive the creative sector forward. “We are easing the process of setting up concerts in India, with a beta version of a single-window platform launching by October end to boost the concert season starting in November,” the I&B Secretary informed. 

The India Cine Hub was launched in July 2025 under the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Promotion of the Live Events Industry. It provides a single platform to coordinate and approve live events across India. It also includes a Centralised Digital Music Licensing Registry, a model policy for multi-use venues, new entertainment hubs, and event management training under the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF). The plan also offers GST rebates, subsidies, and MSME recognition to attract investment and create jobs.

India’s Creative Economy: Growth, WAVES, and Global Storytelling

Considering India’s media and entertainment sector has grown from ₹25,000 crore in 2000 to ₹2.5 lakh crore in 2024, Sanjay Jaju highlighted that the sector employs millions. It reaches over 200 countries, with digital media and AVGC XR expanding rapidly.

At the 25th FICCI Frames, he added that the World Audiovisual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES), envisioned by PM Modi in 2019, will become a bi-annual global platform from 2027. Quoting the Prime Minister, he emphasized, “India's orange economy is not merely about entertainment. It is about ideas and imagination, about turning our cultural strengths into creative energy that inspires the world.”

Calling on the success of films like Lagaan, Slumdog Millionaire, Dangal, and many more, Sanjay Jaju hailed Indian creators as global storytellers. He also praised independent cinema and OTTs for sharing small-town stories connecting people of varied languages and cultures.

As India’s creative economy enters a “golden age of creativity,” Sanjay Jaju emphasized the need for responsible growth, tackling piracy, misinformation, and ensuring fair revenue for creators. 

The Future Path

With initiatives like India Cine Hub, Wave X, the Indian Institute of Creative Technology, and WAVES, along with Broadcast and DTH reforms, India is poised to be “the world’s most vibrant, ethical, and innovative creative economy.”

To make this into reality, Jaju urged stakeholders like industry, investors, and creators to collaborate to “frame the next quarter-century of Indian media and entertainment together - one that is bold in creativity, fair in conduct, and global in impact.”