Mumbai, April 30 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Maharashtra on Thursday, will inaugurate the first-of-its-kind World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 in Mumbai.

According to a government statement, the four-day summit with the tagline 'Connecting Creators, Connecting Countries' is poised to position India as a global hub for media, entertainment, and digital innovation by bringing together creators, startups, industry leaders, and policymakers from across the world.

In line with the Prime Minister's vision of leveraging creativity, technology, and talent to shape a brighter future, WAVES will integrate films, OTT, gaming, comics, digital media, AI, AVGC-XR, broadcasting, and emerging tech, making it a comprehensive showcase of India's media and entertainment prowess.

WAVES aims to unlock a $50 billion market by 2029, expanding India's footprint in the global entertainment economy. At WAVES 2025, India will also host the Global Media Dialogue (GMD) for the first time, with ministerial participation from 25 countries, marking a milestone in the country's engagement with the global media and entertainment landscape.

The Summit will also feature the WAVES Bazaar, a global e-marketplace with over 6,100 buyers, 5,200 sellers, and 2,100 projects. It aims to connect buyers and sellers locally and globally, ensuring wide-reaching networking and business opportunities. The Prime Minister will visit the Creatosphere and interact with creators selected from the 32 Create in India Challenges launched nearly a year ago, which garnered over one lakh registrations.

He will also visit the Bharat Pavilion. WAVES 2025 will witness participation from over 90 countries, with more than 10,000 delegates, 1,000 creators, 300+ companies, and 350+ startups. The summit will feature 42 plenary sessions, 39 breakout sessions, and 32 masterclasses spanning diverse sectors including broadcasting, infotainment, AVGC-XR, films, and digital media.

Maharashtra industry minister, Uday Samant, on Monday said that the event is being hosted by the Maharashtra government. 'Mumbai, which is an international city, is known as the home of Hindi cinema. Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, started Marathi films in Maharashtra. Therefore, Mumbai is the leading city in the country in the field of entertainment. At the same time, Maharashtra is number one in attracting foreign investment in the last three years. Therefore, Maharashtra and Mumbai have remained number one in the field of industry as well,' he said.

He further stated, 'In terms of tourism, Maharashtra is also competing with other countries. The objective is also to project states' tourist destinations at the global level. The central government has chosen Mumbai city so that the cultural, industrial and tourism culture of Maharashtra and some of its traditions should go to the global level.'

Uday Samant said ministers and ministerial-level officials from 33 countries, as well as CEOs of 120 international companies, will be present at the event. Many veteran actors and producers from the Bollywood, Tollywood, and Marathi film industries will also participate in the event. "This event is an opportunity to take Maharashtra's cultural, industrial and tourism sectors to the global stage,' he added.

/IANS