Lok Sabha Question No. 5599 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-06
Subject: Local Gaming Industry
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Suresh Kumar Kashyap

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION. NO. 5599

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 06.04.2022

## LOCAL GAMING INDUSTRY

## 5599.    SHRI SURESH  KUMAR KASHYAP:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology  be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is planning to make India a hub of online gaming industry though swadeshi tech and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has created any policy document in this regard and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of the steps taken by the Government to make India a hub of indigenous game developers and gaming entities;
- (d) whether the Government is planning to create a new policy regime in this regard and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government is considering to promote Indian games instead of imported ones; and
- (f) if so, the details of the steps taken by the Government to protect gaming industry from damage due to banning of games of skills by certain States?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a) to (c):   Online gaming represents a significantly fast expanding component of tech and innovation ecosystem.  Government is fully committed to support technology and innovation Start-up  ecosystem  and  its  policies  have  resulted  in  India  being  one  of  the  world's  most vibrant start-up nations and India is today home to about 70000 start-ups, of which, 93 have turned unicorns.  It is estimated that there are around 1000 gaming start-ups are in India and many of them are attracting investments as also creating value.  Government is committed to continue supporting Start up and innovation.   The Indian Gaming Industry is estimated to generate $1.5 billion in revenue which is expected to grow to $5 billion by the year 2025.

In online gaming sector with an objective to support start ups, MeitY through STPI has set up IMAGE,  a  Centre  of  Excellence  focused  on  Gaming,  VFX,  Computer  Vision  &  AI,  at Hyderabad  in  collaboration  with  industry,  academia,  and  Government  of  Telangana.    The CoE supports product development and innovative solutions in the fields of "Gaming, VFX, and Computer Vision & AI" and provides access to the required infrastructure and labs to startups for development and validation of solution, from design to prototyping. As on April 4, 2022, this CoE has selected 35 startups, out of which, 20 start-ups have been onboarded and supported.

(d): Online gaming platforms are intermediaries, and they have to follow the due diligence as prescribed in the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 and the Rules there under.

State  Governments  under  List  II  of  the  Seventh  Schedule  of  the  Indian  Constitution  have enacted their laws to deal with betting and gambling within their jurisdictions.  some States have recently legislated for online gaming also.

MeitY regulates all the intermediaries as per the IT Act and the Rules therein and does not have any role in the sanction or licensing of online gaming platforms currently.

The  NITI  Aayog  has  published  a  discussion  paper  on  'Guiding  principles  for  the  uniform national-level regulation of online fantasy sports platforms in India.

In  the  Union  Budget  2022,  Government  has  announced  setting  up  of  the  taskforce  for promotion of Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic sector (AVGC).  This taskforce will  recommend  ways  to  employ  youth  and  build  domestic  capacity  for  serving  both  the Indian  market  as  also  global  demand.    Ministry  of  Information  and  Broadcasting  has  also announced  setting  up  of  an  AVGC  CoE  with  an  objective  to  promote  gamification  and animation.

(e): Under  AatmaNirbhar  Bharat,  the  Government  of  India  promotes  make-in-india, design-in-India,  make-for-India,  and  make-for-the  world.    This  is  also  valid  for  design-inIndia safe & secure online games.  MeitY in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission - NITI Aayog organised Digital India AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge to identify the best Indian Apps that are already being used by citizens and have the potential to scale and become world class Apps in their respective categories.  This Innovation Challenge with various cash awards and incentives of featuring Apps on Leader Boards sought to create an ecosystem where Indian entrepreneurs and Startups are incentivised to ideate, incubate, build, nurture and sustain Tech solutions that can serve not only citizens within India but also the world.  The challenge was organised in 8 broad categories and out of this, one category was 'Games'.

(f): As mentioned in above point (a), (b), (c) & (d), Online Gaming is a State Subject. Several States have their own policies related to online games and the Acts have been enacted by  some  States  (e.g.  Sikkim  Online  Gaming  (Regulation)  Act,  Meghalaya  Regulation  of Gaming Act,  Nagaland  Prohibition  of  Gambling  and  Promotion  and  Regulation  of  Online Games of Skills Act etc). States are within their jurisdiction to enact such laws, rules, and regulations.

*******