Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India]: YouTube will invest ₹850 crore over the next two years to accelerate the growth of India’s digital creator economy, announced Neal Mohan, CEO of the Google-owned platform, during his keynote address at the inaugural World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 in Mumbai.
Mohan revealed that YouTube has paid ₹21,000 crore to Indian creators, artists, and media companies over the last three years, underscoring the platform’s critical role in transforming India’s digital content landscape.
India: A ‘Creator Nation’
Highlighting India’s digital prowess, Mohan said over 100 million Indian YouTube channels uploaded content in the past year, with more than 15,000 channels surpassing one million subscribers. He noted that content created in India generated 45 billion hours of watch time from international viewers in 2024 alone.
“YouTube’s ability to connect a creator anywhere with audiences everywhere has made it a powerful engine of cultural export,” Mohan stated. “Few nations have leveraged this as effectively as India, which I now proudly call a Creator Nation.”
Government Backs Content Economy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated WAVES 2025 at the Jio World Centre earlier in the day, emphasized the transformative power of India’s content creation sector. He called this a “sunrise era of the Orange Economy”, which he described as being built on content, creativity, and culture.
PM Modi encouraged creators to “create in India and create for the world,” reinforcing India’s ambition to lead the global media and entertainment industry.
About WAVES 2025
WAVES 2025, a four-day summit with the theme “Connecting Creators, Connecting Countries”, aims to position India as a global hub for media, entertainment, and digital innovation. The summit brings together 10,000+ delegates, 1,000+ creators, 350+ startups, and 300+ media companies from over 90 countries.
The event will feature 42 plenary sessions, 39 breakout discussions, and 32 masterclasses, offering a platform for collaboration across broadcasting, AVGC-XR, infotainment, films, and digital media sectors.