Netflix strengthens India focus with tourism partnership and creative economy push

Netflix is expanding its India playbook beyond entertainment, strengthening ties with the government to position storytelling as a driver of tourism, talent development, and economic growth. As the streaming platform completes a decade in the country, it has deepened its partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Culture, announced a nationwide creative talent initiative, and revealed that its biggest Indian production, Operation Safed Sagar, has contributed over $24 million (more than ₹215 crore) to the Indian economy, underscoring the growing economic footprint of streaming-led content production.

The announcements come after Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the two discussed the growing global appeal of Indian stories and the company's long-term commitment to India's creative economy. Building on those discussions, Netflix unveiled the Netflix India Storytelling Initiative, a multi-phase programme aimed at strengthening India's animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics (AVGC) ecosystem while building a future-ready creative workforce.

At an event in New Delhi, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Sarandos launched the "As Seen on Netflix" section on the Incredible India website. The initiative enables audiences to explore real-world destinations, cultural traditions and local experiences featured in Netflix India's films and series, reflecting the government's push to leverage entertainment-led storytelling to promote tourism and India's cultural heritage globally.

As part of the Storytelling Initiative, Netflix will partner with the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) to co-develop courses in visual effects and media technology workflows while providing 100 scholarships across disciplines such as character animation, gaming management, virtual production and interactive comics. The company has also partnered with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) to train audio description writers and voice artists, improving accessibility standards for Indian films and series and expanding opportunities across the creative economy.

How is Netflix strengthening its long-term India strategy?

Calling storytelling one of India's greatest strengths, Shekhawat said, "India's stories have always been our greatest cultural ambassadors... Together, we are strengthening India's creative ecosystem while reinforcing our position as a leading cultural and tourism destination."

Sarandos said the company's next phase of growth in India will be centred on investing in local talent. "India has always been one of the world's greatest storytelling nations. As we begin our next decade here, we believe our greatest investment is in the people who will tell India's next generation of stories," he said.

Netflix also highlighted the economic contribution of Operation Safed Sagar, its largest production in India. According to the company, the series generated more than ₹215 crore in economic impact by engaging over 850 local businesses across construction, hospitality, logistics, catering and technical services. The production directly hired more than 200 cast and crew members, created over 4,000 daily hiring opportunities across 11 cities, and partnered with 15 Indian VFX studios employing nearly 1,200 artists. The VFX collaborations alone contributed more than ₹49 crore, accounting for nearly 20% of the production's total economic impact.

Highlighting the broader impact of Netflix's investments, Sarandos said, "Every Netflix production is also a local production. Behind every episode are thousands of people whose creativity, skill and dedication make that story possible."

Netflix's latest commitments come amid a broader wave of global technology companies ramping up investments in India. Earlier this year, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announced plans to invest $48 billion in India between 2026 and 2030 across artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, e-commerce operations and logistics, reinforcing India's growing importance as a strategic investment destination for global technology companies.

Netflix, which has produced more than 200 Indian Originals over the past decade, said it will continue investing in local talent, production capabilities and strategic partnerships as it enters its second decade in one of its fastest-growing markets, signalling a deeper commitment to India's creative economy beyond content production.