'Screen may be small, scope is huge': Modi projects India’s OTT boom

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 1 inaugurated the first-ever World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES) at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai, presenting India as a rising global hub for the media and entertainment industry. Addressing a gathering of industry leaders and creative professionals, the Prime Minister highlighted India’s rapid economic growth and expanding digital landscape as key drivers of opportunity in the audio-visual sector.

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“India will soon become the world's third-largest economy. It is already number one in global fintech adoption, the second-largest mobile manufacturer, and the third-largest startup ecosystem,” Modi said, positioning the country as ripe for investment and storytelling. He noted that with a billion-plus population, India is also a land of “a billion-plus stories,” making it a fertile ground for global content creation and consumption.

Focusing on the explosive growth of Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms, Modi remarked, “OTT has grown 10X in India in recent years. The screen size may be small, but the scope is huge.” He added that this digital revolution is reshaping entertainment consumption and enabling regional and grassroots voices to reach global audiences.

The WAVES summit is envisioned as a platform to connect Indian talent with global markets and establish India as a major force in the entertainment world. Modi’s speech underlined India’s ambition to lead not just in economics, but in storytelling too.