MUMBAI: Indian media and entertainment sector, which is currently valued at $24 billion is expected to grow to $30 billion by 2024.

“I feel with the growth rate we have and I’m sure it’s going to grow more than that. By 2030 we expect it to double and even more,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told an international media publication at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival recently.

“I think it’s quite lucrative and I expect a lot of people to come and shoot in India because our major focus is to make India the content hub of the world. India has a lot to offer, we still need to grow and go ahead from here. And I expect these incentives may help in the future to attract a lot of business” said Thakur.

In the interaction, he also spoke about the importance of being competitive. “By the end of the Cannes Film Festival you will see the word has spread that India has announced this much – others may come with better packages and all that,” added Thakur. “In a competitive world, you can’t stop here, you have to keep moving. It has to be on a real-time basis, you have to compete with the world. It is not only the incentive — yes it is going to impact — it is also the locations, skilled and less expensive manpower and a huge domestic [India] market available for them as well.”

He also spoke about the importance of the country creating content that can travel globally. “We have to create content for the world, not only for the domestic [India] market. Keeping that in mind, I’m sure if they [the West] could have Marvel’s superheroes, why can’t India?”. “We have a 6,000-year-old rich cultural heritage, we can showcase it to the world in a beautiful manner," Thakur added.