Hyderabad’s ‘Game city’ to boost gaming and animation industry
Hyderabad: After successfully establishing its grasp over the IT and ITeS sectors with a slew of initiatives including skill development, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, is now gearing up to do the same with the gaming and animation segment.The government of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is now in its final stages of finalizing its grand plan for establishing a Gaming and Animation City which is scheduled to occupy about 30-acres of land at Hyderabad’slocality of Raidurgam. The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (the nodal agency for land allotment for industries) would be providing the land for the highly anticipated and ambitious project.
The decision was taken on the basis of the state’s extensive cinema industry, which is amongst the largest producers of films in India. The Andhra Pradesh Government is keen on using the latest technological innovations available in the industry to create skill development and employment opportunities for its youth.
With the desideratum of constituting the city of Hyderabad as the ganglion for animation, gaming and video special effects (VFX) that the ‘Game City’ project is being initiated. The Government of Andhra Pradesh has created a special policy to encourage and promote the development of these activities across the state. Consuming over 30 acres of land, the first phase of the project would proffer 600,000 square feet of prime office space. The Game City will be equipped with the latest state of the art equipment along with the requisite software required for these activities that will allow our youth to launch directly into these activities.
According to the ministry of Information Technology (IT), special rules and policies are being formulated to favor young developers and entrepreneurs. Budding entrepreneurs and developers can even take up a single desk space and start up their respective business venture.
The Game City which is a greenfield concept would possess an incubation tower of 11 storeys with the first three floors comprising preview theaters having seats ranging from 100 to 250 each. This would permit the budding entrepreneurs to take complete advantage of all the software, equipment and other facilities which otherwise would cost a lot. These facilities would be installed by the government and will be made available for leasing albeit at extremely reasonable rates to ensure maximum productivity.
The Andhra Pradesh government would be spending roughly Rs. 240 crore on the first phase of the project, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014. Currently, India shares just one percent of the $180 billion global gaming and animation market.
A public private partnership is being sought for the project. Chiefly players in the field of gaming and animation would be allured to set up their operations here. Plug and play incubation facility and skill development facilities amongst others would be included in the project.The state government would also study and match the incentives being extended to the animation and gaming industry in other states.
The modalities would be concluded soon; furthermore, various committees with representatives from the industry are on board for coordination with the government. The concept of finishing schools at engineering colleges supported by the government would be replicated by Andhra Pradesh in order to hone the skills of graduates. As per the IT Minister of Andhra Pradesh – Lakshmaiah, training components would be incorporated within the curriculum to gain an edge.
According to industry professionals, the facility would provide a huge boost to the gaming and animation sector. It would also lead to establishment of more training institutes. Numerous employment opportunities would be presented as well. As per the industry estimates, by 2014 the animation and gaming market in India is expected to be around $1 billion $ 830 million respectively; latest infrastructural developments such as the Game City would enable Indians to partake a bigger portion of the global market and eventually dominate 15 percent of the total market. To further generate awareness about the emerging field of gaming and animation, the state government of Andhra Pradesh would be rolling out international awards for animation, gaming and VFX in November of 2013.
Additionally, the government is also going to provide high-speed broadband connectivity for people residing in remote areas and villages enabling them to participate in this industry remotely from their homes, wherein they would be able to contribute in small ways by doing parts of the animaton/VFX. Initially this connectivity would be provided to 25,000 villages along with the rolling out of the 4G technology.
