I&B Ministry
Govt unveils AI training, creator platform and free TV upgrades
A national AI training push, a citizen creator platform and set-top-box-free television form the centrepiece of the information ministry’s digital content drive
NEW DELHI India’s union minister for information and broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has unveiled three initiatives in one go – an AI skilling programme, a homegrown creator platform and upgraded free-to-air television access – in a push to turbocharge the country’s media and digital content ecosystem before the competition does it for him.
The centrepiece is a National AI Skilling Programme, built in partnership with Google and YouTube, that aims to train around 15,000 creators, media professionals and young people – entirely free of cost. Delivered through the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, the programme runs in two phases: the first takes participants through foundational AI learning via online modules; the second puts them through advanced, hands-on training in animation, visual effects, gaming and media technology. The goal is unambiguous – make India a global hub for digital innovation, not merely a consumer of it.
The second initiative, MyWAVES, lands on the WAVES OTT platform as a space for ordinary citizens to create, upload and share content in multiple Indian languages. Short videos, episodic content, wider participation – the ministry frames it as a deliberate pivot from passive consumption to active creation, with the ‘Create in India’ challenge sitting at its heart. For the legion of aspiring creators outside Mumbai and Bengaluru, it could matter.
The third move is the most prosaic but perhaps the most consequential for the masses: televisions equipped with in-built satellite tuners and an advanced electronic programme guide (EPG) will allow viewers to watch DD Free Dish channels directly, without a separate set-top box. In remote and underserved areas where every rupee counts and infrastructure is patchy, removing that hardware barrier is no small thing.
Vaishnaw framed the package as an expression of prime minister Narendra Modi’s vision of democratising technology. “These initiatives align with making technology more affordable and accessible for citizens,” he said, pointing to the set-top-box rollout as proof that access need not come with a premium.
Information and broadcasting secretary Sanjay Jaju was characteristically policy-precise: “The three initiatives reflect a unified policy direction – building capabilities, expanding opportunities, and ensuring wider access to quality content.” YouTube India’s managing director, also present at the launch, struck a bullish note, arguing that artificial intelligence has the potential to unlock new opportunities for creators by enhancing storytelling and expanding audience reach.
The ministry situates all three moves within its broader ‘Orange Economy’ agenda – promoting the creative sector as an economic engine – while simultaneously reinforcing Prasar Bharati’s public broadcasting mandate and building a digitally skilled workforce for the media and entertainment industry.
India is not short of ambition when it comes to the creator economy. What it has historically been short of is infrastructure, affordability and scale. If 15,000 AI-trained creators, a multilingual OTT platform and a set-top-box-free television rollout can chip away at all three at once, Vaishnaw may have just handed India’s media sector its most consequential upgrade in years. The industry will be watching the execution just as closely as it applauded the announcement.
I&B Ministry
Prasar Bharati opens AIR to private content under new policy
NIPP introduces revenue share, sponsored and gratis models
MUMBAI: Radio may be the oldest voice in the room, but it’s learning some very modern tricks. In a bid to stay tuned to changing listener habits, Prasar Bharati has opened the doors of All India Radio to private players under a newly rolled-out content framework. The initiative, titled Notice Inviting Programme Proposals (NIPP), marks a significant shift in how the public broadcaster approaches programming moving from a largely in-house model to a more collaborative, market-aligned ecosystem. Issued by Akashvani’s Directorate General in April 2026, the policy invites private producers, content owners and aggregators to pitch programmes across formats, from radio dramas and documentaries to quiz shows, storytelling and music-led content.
At the heart of the framework lies a three-pronged participation model designed to balance creative freedom with commercial viability. The most prominent route is revenue sharing, where advertising and sponsorship income generated by a programme is split between the producer and the broadcaster. The structure tilts in favour of creators offering a 70:30 split when producers bring in advertising, and 65:35 when monetisation is handled by Prasar Bharati.
Alongside this sits the sponsored model, where producers fully fund and monetise their content, subject to compliance with advertising norms and the AIR Broadcast Code. For those less commercially inclined, a gratis route allows content to be submitted free of cost, with Prasar Bharati retaining all monetisation rights effectively turning the platform into a national distribution channel for diverse voices.
The move comes as legacy media grapples with intensifying competition from private FM networks, streaming platforms and digital audio ecosystems. By repositioning AIR as both a public service broadcaster and a content marketplace, Prasar Bharati appears to be recalibrating its role in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
Importantly, the framework does not dilute editorial control. All submissions must adhere to the AIR Broadcast Code, and proposals are evaluated through a layered process that weighs storytelling quality, production capability, audience appeal and revenue potential. Only proposals crossing a defined threshold move forward, signalling that while access has widened, the bar remains firmly in place.
Operational discipline is another cornerstone of the policy. Producers are required to maintain broadcast-ready content, deliver episode banks in advance and navigate a structured approval process. Crucially, all production costs are borne by the content provider, reinforcing Prasar Bharati’s positioning as a distribution and oversight platform rather than a commissioning entity.
What elevates the initiative further is its scale. The framework spans multiple clusters and stations across India, covering both metro and regional markets, with specific language mandates and submission channels. This not only expands the content pipeline but also deepens linguistic and cultural representation, an area where AIR has historically held an advantage.
In effect, NIPP signals a quiet but meaningful transformation. AIR is no longer just broadcasting to the nation, it is inviting the nation to broadcast with it, blending legacy reach with contemporary content economics in a bid to stay relevant in an increasingly fragmented audio universe.
