India built the digital rails. Now it must own what runs on them

Eleven years ago, Digital India solved one of the biggest development challenges in modern history: connecting more than a billion people to the internet. Today, India is home to more than 900 million internet users, has some of the world’s most affordable mobile data, and has built digital public infrastructure that countries across the globe now study and seek to emulate. 

But connectivity was never the destination. It was the foundation. 

The defining question of the next decade is not whether Indians are connected. It is whether India owns what those connections create. Who owns the entertainment, stories, music, games and cultural experiences that more than a billion Indians consume every day? More importantly, who captures the economic value, intellectual property and global influence they generate? 

Here, India’s success story is still unfinished. 

We have built world-class digital infrastructure, but much of what runs on it continues to be created, owned, and monetised elsewhere. The infrastructure is increasingly Indian; the intellectual property that powers it often is not. 

This is no longer merely a business issue; it is a question of strategic sovereignty. Nations today compete not only through manufacturing capacity or digital infrastructure, but through ownership of ideas, intellectual property and culture. We rightly debate dependence in areas such as semiconductors, data infrastructure and payment systems. Yet we rarely apply the same strategic lens to the stories, characters, music and experiences that shape how a generation sees itself, spends its time and increasingly connects with the world. Owning the culture a billion people consume matters every bit as much as owning the rails on which their digital economy runs. 

The scale of the opportunity makes this impossible to ignore. India’s media and entertainment industry grew by 9% in 2025 to ₹2.78 lakh crore, with digital media overtaking television for the first time to become the sector’s largest segment. We are one of the world’s largest and most engaged digital audiences. Yet across streaming, music, gaming and creator-led entertainment, India continues to provide the consumers, the creative talent and increasingly the capital, while much of the ownership of intellectual property and the long-term value creation still resides overseas. 

The irony is striking. India has become one of the world’s most important digital entertainment markets but has yet to become a country from which the world consistently consumes entertainment at scale. 

None of this is an argument against global platforms or international investment. Their contribution to India’s digital economy has been significant. They have expanded markets, raised production standards, accelerated innovation and created thousands of skilled jobs. The objective is not protectionism; it is participation on equal terms. As India’s creative economy matures, Indian creators and companies must own a far greater share of the intellectual property, value creation and global success that originates here. 

Encouragingly, India has already begun laying the foundations for this shift. The government’s policy support for the AVGC-XR sector and video gaming, coupled with initiatives such as the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES), signal an important recognition that the creative economy is not merely a cultural asset, but a strategic economic one. These are important first steps. The lesson extends well beyond gaming: when policy provides clarity, encourages innovation and nurtures entrepreneurship, Indian companies have repeatedly shown they can build globally competitive businesses. 

So what would it take for India to truly own its creative future? 

It begins with capital. 

Much of today’s investment still pursues rapid user acquisition and short-term engagement. What India needs alongside that is patient capital that backs original intellectual property—stories, characters, music, gaming universes and entertainment franchises that can travel across films, television, games, live experiences and digital platforms. Intellectual property is one of the few assets that compounds in value over decades. Every globally recognised Indian franchise creates value that stays in India, generates exports and strengthens our creative economy. 

It continues with creativity rooted in India’s diversity. 

Our greatest competitive advantage is not scale alone; it is cultural depth. Content in Tamil, Marathi, Bhojpuri and dozens of other Indian languages represents one of the fastest-growing segments of digital consumption. These stories cannot be replicated by algorithms or imported through translation. Authentic local narratives, created by people who understand their communities, possess a universality that often transcends geography. The same applies to concerts, live entertainment and immersive experiences, where India’s cultural richness becomes an advantage that cannot easily be outsourced. 

And it depends on capability. 

Institutions such as the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT), together with the broader momentum around India’s AVGC-XR ecosystem, are helping build the next generation of creators, designers, storytellers and technologists capable of developing globally relevant Indian intellectual property. Combined with India’s rapidly expanding AI capabilities, cloud infrastructure and digital production ecosystem, we now have the opportunity for studios in Pune, Kochi, Guwahati or Indore to create world-class content for global audiences without leaving India. 

Artificial intelligence will make this opportunity even greater. As AI democratises creative tools, technology itself will become more accessible. The real competitive advantage will lie not in access to AI, but in the originality of the intellectual property built with it. AI can accelerate creation, but it cannot replace imagination. That makes ownership of Indian stories, characters and cultural narratives even more valuable in the years ahead. 

The rewards extend well beyond economics. 

Countries whose culture travels earn influence that cannot be negotiated through trade agreements alone. Films, music, games and stories shape global perceptions, strengthen soft power and create enduring emotional connections with audiences around the world. South Korea recognised this early and built a national strategy around its cultural industries. India, with its extraordinary civilisational heritage, creative talent and digital scale, has every ingredient required to do the same, perhaps on an even larger canvas. 

The encouraging reality is that India no longer has to choose between technology and creativity. We are beginning to recognise that our creative industries—from films and music to gaming, animation, immersive media and creator-led content are engines of innovation, exports, employment and soft power. The next step is ensuring they are also engines of Indian-owned intellectual property. 

Digital India proved that India can build infrastructure at extraordinary scale. The opportunity before us now is even greater: to become one of the world’s leading creators and owners of digital culture. 

If the last chapter was about connecting Indians to the world, the next should be about connecting the world to Indian stories. 

The next great export from Digital India should not only be technology. It should be Indian stories. 

We have built the platforms. Now we must own the possibilities they create. 

(The author is Chairman, JetSynthesys; he is also Chairman, CII India@100 Council; Co-chairman, CII National Committee on Media & Entertainment; and Board Member, Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT). Views are personal.)