Media industry likely to grow at 12% by 2022

The Indian media and entertainment (M&E) industry would nearly double in size by 2022, clocking 11-12 per cent CAGR between 2016 and 2022. The industry would also be able to generate direct and indirect employment of 4 million people in the next four to five years, a report by CII-BCG said.

Currently, the direct economic impact by the M&E industry is ~1,35,000 crore, while employing over a million people. Taking the total economic impact, including indirect and induced benefits to the economy, the report estimates the industry’s output at ~4,50,000 crore, contributing 2.8 per cent to India’s GDP. When considering the total employment, including direct, indirect and induced, the total employment opportunities generated by the industry is close to 4 million jobs.

With strong growth of 11-12 per cent over the next five years, the industry is poised to add 700,000-800,000 new jobs in the country.

The industry needs to embrace itself for the consumption explosion and the key consumption drivers for long-term growth are driven by factors like rise in growing rural demand and media consumption, capturing more time of digitally connected consumers and strategically supplying to segmented audiences.

“The Indian M&E sector has huge room for growth and can create 4-5 million jobs without much spending from public infrastructure. Digital platforms are proliferating and there are tremendous opportunities that never existed before — especially for creators, storytellers and technology providers,’’ said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, CII.

“Skilling is a major challenge as well as an opportunity for M&E industry as it can open new job prospects for the youth in India.”

According to the CII-BCG report, the industry’s workforce would see significant profile shifts over the next few years. Major shifts around adoption of technology, big data and analytics as well as structural changes would mean many new job roles and a massive reskilling of the current workforce.

With the rising consumer demands, changing business models and digital disruptions, the industry needs to prepare itself for a completely different workforce. The M&E industry alone would require 140,000-160,000 trained, employable individuals entering the workforce every year for the next five years. The demand for talent and functional skills in the industry will outstrip supply, given the pace of growth.

Kanchan Samtani, partner and director, BCG, said, “It is the need of the hour, for the industry to identify the creative, technological and analytical skills that will be required over the next five to seven years to restructure its business model for the upskilling exercise. The talent agenda is the key aspect for the expansion of the sector. To achieve this, there is need for concentrated efforts by the government, academia and the industry bodies.”