IICT will initially offer seven specialised courses
MUMBAI: After announcing the establishment of the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) in Goregaon Film city, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday joined hands with Jiostar, Adobe, Google, YouTube, and Meta to design the courses and provide softwares of the AVGC-XR sector. On the third day of WAVES 2025, representatives from IICT and leading industry giants exchanged Letters of Intent (LoIs), marking the launch of long-term collaborative efforts aimed at advancing the AVGC-XR ecosystem in India.
An official of the central government said that Union information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadanvis will inaugurate temporary arrangements of IICT at NFDC (National Film Development Corporation) at Peddar Road within fortnight. The official said that seven specialised courses will be started at makeshift arrangements at the NFDC building.
“IICT will initially offer seven specialised courses, along with train-the-trainer programmes, setting new benchmarks for academic and practical excellence,” the official said.
Speaking with this newspaper, Prithul Kumar, Joint Secretary and Managing Director of NDFC, said that they have handed over five floors of the NDFC building to the IICT on temporary basis for commencing the courses designed for animation and digital audio-visual effect. “The five floors of the building are already equipped with state-of-the-art Gaming Labs, Animation Labs, Edit and Sound Suites, Virtual Production setups, Immersive Studios, Preview Theatres, and smart classrooms,” Mr. Kumar said.
The government of India has been developing the ICCT — a National Centre of Excellence dedicated exclusively to the AVGC-XR sector — on the lines of premier Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Management (IIM). As a part of it, the global tech giants such as NVIDIA, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Star India, Meta, and Adobe are long-term collaborating to make IICT a world-class institution.
Microsoft, Google and Meta inked three memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with the ministry of information and broadcasting in presence of Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at the Jio World centre on Saturday. The official said that the purpose is to replicate India’s successful IT model within the creative and digital media space and develop a sustainable ecosystem for future growth.
The central government has allocated Rs 400 crore for establishing the IICT, while the land for the project has been provided by the government of Maharashtra. The ten acres of land at Mumbai film city has been identified for setting up of IICT.
A senior official said that phase one of the campus is coming up at the NFDC Building, Pedder Road, in South Mumbai, while a massive Phase two expansion is also planned on a 10-acre campus within Film City, Goregaon. According to the official, leading global companies have partnered with IICT to provide support for designing curriculum development, internships, scholarships, startup funding, and job placements.
The Union Information and Broadcasting minister said, “IICT will follow the same template as the IITs and IIMs in India to transform itself into a massive world-class education and training hub for students who aspire to be professionals in the AVGC-XR sector. We have started an initiative which is completely novel in the world of film and entertainment. This (initiative) follows the vision of our Prime Minister that India can take the global lead in the world in the media and entertainment sector.”
