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Government Pegs India's Gaming Market at Rs 23,200 Crore, Projects 36% Growth by 2027

India's online gaming market has been officially valued at Rs 23,200 crore for 2024 ($2.55 billion).


This marks the first instance of the Indian government disclosing detailed revenue figures for this sector. The valuation was announced by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on February 16, 2026, as a component of a wider evaluation of the creative industries.


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Where Gaming Stands in India's Media Landscape

The numbers put online gaming in fourth place within India's media and entertainment ecosystem. Only digital media, television, and print recorded higher revenues in 2024. What is interesting is that gaming managed to outrank film entertainment, which was valued at Rs 18,700 crore, and the animation and VFX sector at Rs 10,300 crore.


Here is a quick look at how the major segments stacked up in 2024:

  1. Digital media: Rs 80,200 crore

  2. Television: Rs 67,900 crore

  3. Print: Rs 26,000 crore

  4. Online gaming: Rs 23,200 crore

  5. Filmed entertainment: Rs 18,700 crore

  6. Animation and VFX: Rs 10,300 crore

  7. Live events: Rs 10,100 crore

  8. Music: Rs 5,300 crore

  9. Radio: Rs 2,500 crore


Gaming sitting above Bollywood in revenue terms is not something you see every day, and it says a lot about how fast the sector has grown.


Growth Projections Look Promising

According to the PIB release, the government expects gaming revenues to grow steadily over the next few years. The projected figures are:

  • 2025: Rs 26,000 crore ($2.86 billion)

  • 2026: Rs 28,800 crore ($3.17 billion)

  • 2027: Rs 31,600 crore ($3.48 billion)


That is a 36% increase over three years. Compare that to television, which is actually expected to dip slightly from Rs 67,900 crore in 2024 to Rs 66,700 crore by 2027.


It is worth noting that this valuation comes after a major regulatory shift. India banned money-based online gaming in 2025 through the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, commonly known as PROGA. This resulted in a ban on several highly successful apps such as MPL and Dream11, which were operating as gambling platforms under the guise of "online gaming." The government banned these apps and established a clear definition of online gaming.


The government grouped gaming with Animation, Visual Effects, Comics, and Extended Reality under the AVGC-XR umbrella. Together, these are described as "the most technology-driven frontier of the creative economy." Combined, gaming and animation/VFX represent approximately Rs 33,500 crore in current revenues.


Infrastructure Plans and Talent Pipeline

The government is not just acknowledging the industry. It is actively investing in building its future. Plans include setting up AVGC Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges across the country. The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies has been designated as the National Centre of Excellence for AVGC-XR and gaming.


The AVGC sector is expected to need nearly 2 million professionals by 2030. Key hubs like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, and Thiruvananthapuram continue to anchor the industry while emerging cities build their own creative clusters.


Major companies are already moving in line with this growth story. Reliance has partnered with European esports giant BLAST to expand competitive gaming infrastructure in India. NVIDIA's GeForce Now cloud gaming platform has also confirmed its India launch, targeting the country's expanding player base.


On the policy side, esports has been granted national status under the Sports Ministry, and India has officially recognized esports as a multisport event.


The Bigger Picture

India's total media and entertainment sector was valued at Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2024, with projections reaching Rs 3.07 lakh crore by 2027. The sector supports over 10 million livelihoods directly and indirectly. Within this landscape, digital media is expected to see the strongest absolute growth, climbing from Rs 80,200 crore to Rs 1,10,400 crore by 2027.


Live events, interestingly, will see the fastest percentage growth at 65%, rising from Rs 10,100 crore to Rs 16,700 crore by 2027. But gaming's consistent year-over-year expansion puts it in a strong position as a durable growth engine within the sector.


Source: Press Information Bureau, Government of India, February 16, 2026

Exchange rate: 1 INR = 0.011 USD

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