New Delhi, India: The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) and Netflix have announced scholarships for 100 students, covering up to 80% of programme costs across six professional courses in animation, visual effects, gaming and comics.
The scholarship initiative covers six programmes, comprising two one-year diploma courses and four six-month certificate programmes. The programmes are designed for students and working professionals across India looking to build skills for the country’s growing AVGC-XR ecosystem.
The two diploma programmes are Interactive Comics & Sequential Arts and Visual Effects Mastery. The four certificate programmes cover Virtual Art Department Content Creation, Media Tech Workflow, Art of Character Animation, and E-Sports & Gaming Management.
The announcement follows a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos on August 5, 2026. During the meeting, Modi highlighted India’s established storytelling tradition and its large pool of creative talent, with an emphasis on strengthening the country’s position as a global content-creation hub.
The meeting also led to the launch of the Netflix India Storytelling Initiative, which aims to strengthen the creative talent pipeline by developing industry-relevant skills across animation, visual effects, gaming and comics. The initiative is positioned as part of India’s wider Orange Economy.
As part of the scholarship programme, Netflix has contributed inputs to the curriculum for IICT’s Visual Effects Mastery and Media Tech Workflow programmes. The courses have been structured around contemporary industry workflows and global standards.
Chanchal Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Chairman of the IICT Board, said the creative sector is undergoing significant technological change. He stressed the importance of connecting education with the evolving requirements of the global AVGC-XR industry and bringing industry expertise into classrooms.
IICT CEO Dr. Vishwas Deoskar said the collaboration is intended to combine structured education, industry inputs and financial support, with the aim of developing talent whose skills remain relevant to changing industry requirements.
The FICCI AVGC-XR Forum also described the collaboration as a move towards more industry-aligned talent development for India’s future AVGC-XR workforce.
IICT is India’s national centre of excellence for the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) sector. Established by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in partnership with the Government of Maharashtra, FICCI and CII, the institute currently operates from the NFDC Complex, Pedder Road, Mumbai. Its permanent 10-acre campus is being developed at Film City, Goregaon.
The scholarship programme gives students and working professionals across India an opportunity to access specialised creative-technology education with substantial financial support.
Source: This information is based on an official press release issued by thr Press Information Bureau (PIB), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
Press Release: Press Information Bureau
