Budget 2026: Govt backs ‘orange economy’ with focus on AVGC, Content Creator labs

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced a major push for India’s creative industries or the so-called “orange economy”, outlining budgetary measures aimed at creating future-ready jobs and strengthening skills in animation, design and emerging technologies.Presenting the Union Budget 2026-27 in Parliament, Sitharaman said that India’s Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector is expanding rapidly and is projected to require around two million professionals by 2030. To meet this demand, she proposed supporting the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), Mumbai, in establishing AVGC Content Creator Labs nationwide.“I propose to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, Mumbai, in setting up AVGC Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges,” Sitharaman said in her Budget speech.The initiative, according to the government, aims to strengthen India’s next-generation creator workforce and support jobs, startups and innovation in the creative economy.The emphasis on the orange economy aligns with findings of the Economic Survey 2025-26, which observed that creativity-led sectors such as culture, media, entertainment and intellectual property can emerge as significant drivers of employment, urban services and tourism. The Survey described the “orange economy” as activities that derive value primarily from ideas, artistic expression and cultural capital.The Survey also highlighted the potential of the concert economy to boost tourism, urban services and employment, while flagging challenges such as venue shortages and regulatory hurdles that need to be addressed for the sector to scale up.In her speech, Sitharaman also focused on the design sector, highlighting both its rapid growth and the shortage of trained professionals. She announced a proposal to establish a new National Institute of Design (NID) in eastern India to strengthen design education and regional development.The Budget highlighted that emerging technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are central to fulfilling the government’s goal of building citizen capacity and enabling inclusive growth.It was observed that initiatives such as the AI Mission, National Quantum Mission, Anusandhan National Research Fund and the Research, Development and Innovation Fund are key pillars in supporting the new technologies.Acknowledging the role of technology in benefiting farmers, women in STEM, youth seeking upskilling and persons with disabilities, the Budget underlined that emerging technologies will play a pivotal role in expanding India’s orange economy.Among other proposals, the Budget announced ‘Bharat-VISTAAR’ (Virtually Integrated System to Access Agricultural Resources), a multilingual AI-based platform that will integrate AgriStack portals with ICAR agricultural practices to improve farm productivity and decision-making. It also proposed setting up a high-powered ‘Education to Employment and Enterprise’ Standing Committee to assess the impact of AI and emerging technologies on jobs and skills.