Lok Sabha Question No. 4310 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-18
Subject: Expansion of CMOT Programme
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
Asked by: Dr. Hemang Joshi, Shri Ravindra Shukla Alias Ravi Kishan, Shri Manish Jaiswal, Shri Manoj Tiwari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.4310 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026

## Expansion of CMOT Programme

4310:   Shri Manish Jaiswal:

Dr. Hemang Joshi:

Shri Manoj Tiwari:

Shri Ravindra Shukla Alias Ravi Kishan:

Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state:

- a) the  details  of  the  key  components  and  objectives  of  the  WA VES  Bazaar  global  emarketplace for the film and animation sectors;
- b) the manner in which the International  Film Festival of India (IFFI) evolved in terms of inclusivity and international participation in its recent editions;
- c) whether  the  Government  has  established  strategic  partnerships  with  global  technology companies  to  support  the  National  Centre  of  Excellence  (NCoE)  for Animation,  Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) and if so, the details thereof; and
- d) the  time  by  when  the  Creative  Minds  of  Tomorrow  (CMOT)  programme  expanded  its support to 100 young talents and details of the impact of this expansion?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS. (DR. L. MURUGAN)

## (a) to (d):

WAVES  Bazaar  is  the  flagship  global  B2B  marketplace  and  engagement  platform  of  the Government, conceived to promote India's Media & Entertainment (M&E) sector across films, animation, VFX, gaming, AVGC-XR, immersive media, music, and digital content. Envisioned as  a  'Create  in  India,  Create  for  the  World'  initiative,  WA VES  Bazaar  enables  structured business discovery, market access, investment facilitation, and international collaboration for Indian creators, studios, startups, and institutions.

The  Government  has  established  strategic  partnerships  with  several  global  technology companies to support the National Centre of Excellence (NCoE) for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming,  Comics  and  Extended  Reality  (AVGC-XR)  -  the  Indian  Institute  of  Creative Technologies  (IICT).  The  collaborations  aim  to  support  the  IICT  through  curriculum development, skill development programmes, internships, research and development support, startup incubation, scholarships and industry mentorship, thereby strengthening the A VGC-XR ecosystem in the country.

IFFI  aims  to  be  inclusive  in  terms  of  participation  of  countries,  genres  of  films,  styles  of production,  thematic  concerns  and  audience  appeal.  Over  the  last  3  years,  the  number  of countries from which films have been submitted to the festival has increased from 106 in 2023 to 127 in 2025. In the final line-up of films, international participation has increased from 79 countries in 2023 to 84 countries in 2025. Genres, styles and themes also have registered an impressive rise in IFFI's film bouquet. For wider inclusivity, the delegate fee is kept at low threshold of Rs. 1000/- for the entire length of the festival been held at 4 venues across Goa i.e.  Panjim, Porvorim, Madgaon and Ponda. All screening venues of the festival have been made accessible for Divyangjan. In 56th IFFI, Indian Panorama section-19 films had Closed Captions and 24 films had Audio Descriptions.

The  Creative  Minds  of  Tomorrow  (CMOT)  is  an  initiative  launched  in  2021  during  the International Film Festival of India to identify, recognize, and nurture young creative talent in the  field  of  filmmaking. The  fifth  edition  of  CMOT  in  2025  brought  together  around  125 emerging creators across 13 film crafts. Since its inception in 2021, CMOT has grown steadily, with alumni screening at major global festivals, earning national recognition, and contributing significantly to India's creative economy.

*****