The initiative is being supported by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity and forms part of the company’s broader efforts to strengthen India’s creative talent pipeline. The scholarships cover two one-year diploma programmes and four six-month certificate programmes offered by IICT.
The two diploma programmes are Interactive Comics & Sequential Arts and Visual Effects Mastery. The certificate programmes are Virtual Art Department Content Creation, Media Tech Workflow, Art of Character Animation, and E-Sports & Gaming Management.
The announcement follows Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his India visit, when Netflix launched the Netflix India Storytelling Initiative. The initiative seeks to equip the next generation of Indian storytellers with industry-relevant skills across the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) ecosystem, a sector increasingly viewed as a key component of India’s “Orange Economy”.
Netflix has also contributed to the development of IICT’s curriculum for the Visual Effects Mastery and Media Tech Workflow programmes, with the courses designed to reflect contemporary industry workflows and practices.
“India’s creative economy is at an inflection point. As technology transforms the way stories are created, the institutions shaping the next generation of talent must evolve with it,” said Chanchal Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Chairman, IICT Board.
He said IICT was envisioned as a bridge between India’s creative talent pool and the evolving requirements of the global AVGC-XR industry, adding that partnerships with global industry players would help bring practical industry knowledge into classrooms.Monika Shergill, Vice President, Content, Netflix India, said the country has “an incredible depth of creative talent” and that the partnership would provide emerging storytellers with practical tools and training in animation, VFX, gaming and comics.
“The most exciting stories of the future will come from people who are finding their voice today. Our role is to help unlock that talent,” Shergill said.
Dr Vishwas Deoskar, CEO, IICT, said the partnership would help ensure that students’ skills remain aligned with the changing requirements of the creative industries.
“By combining structured education with direct industry inputs and financial access, we aim to create a stronger pipeline of talent that is ready to contribute to India’s growing creative economy,” he said.
Munjal Shroff, Chairman, FICCI AVGC-XR Forum and Co-Founder and COO, Graphiti Studios, described the FICCI-IICT-Netflix collaboration as a shift towards making industry-aligned talent development a cornerstone of India’s AVGC-XR growth.
The scholarships are open to students and working professionals across India, providing financial access to professional training in a sector where demand for specialised creative and technical skills is growing.
IICT is India’s national centre of excellence for the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) sector. It was established by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, in partnership with the Government of Maharashtra, FICCI and CII.
The institute currently operates from the NFDC Complex on Pedder Road in Mumbai, while its permanent 10-acre campus is being developed at Film City, Goregaon.
