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AVGC creator labs are proposed for 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges on Rs 250 crore, under the Union Budget 2026-27

AVGC Content Creator Labs are proposed for 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges across the country on Rs 250 crore, announced in the Union Budget 2026-27 [3]. The West Bengal IT department publishes no AVGC, animation, gaming or XR policy or scheme [8].

By AVGC-XR Desk ·

AVGC Content Creator Labs are proposed for 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges across the country, announced in the Union Budget 2026-27 and allocated Rs 250 crore [3]. The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies in Mumbai is the designated nodal agency for planning and rollout, and stakeholder consultations on the technology stack, the beneficiary institutions and the rollout modalities are still under way [4].

That is the scheme against which the state announcements of the last four months are worth reading, and West Bengal's is the clearest case [3].

What was reported

AnimationXpress reported on 27 June that West Bengal had earmarked Rs 50 crore to train around one lakh students and young professionals annually in animation, visual effects, gaming and extended reality, that 500 content creator labs were to be set up in 2026, and that the animation academy at Webel would be revamped with new 3D animation and VFX courses [9]. Outlook Respawn reported on 25 June that the Rs 50 crore was proposed rather than allocated, that about 100,000 students and youth a year were the target, and that no breakdown of how the funds would be distributed had been given [10]. The AnimationXpress report names no government order, notification or budget line, and quotes no named official [9]. The Outlook Respawn report names no scheme or policy, and gives no breakdown of how the funds would be distributed [10].

The central scheme's college component is also 500 [3].

What West Bengal has on the record

Webel describes itself as the nodal agency of the West Bengal government for promoting IT and electronics industries, and says its education arm imparts education in animation, visual effects and other fields of IT-ITeS [7]. Its site publishes no course list, no academy name and no student numbers [7]. The state IT and electronics minister, Babul Supriyo, said at an International Animation Day event in Kolkata in September 2024 that work was under way to add 3D and VFX diploma courses to Webel's curriculum, AnimationXpress reported [11]. Speakers at that event said a West Bengal AVGC policy had been planned and had not materialised, and Webel's managing director, Sanjay Kr Das, said the effort to produce it had to lead to results through implementation, the same report said [12].

The department's own published policy documents are the West Bengal IT Policy 2018, the Data Centre Policy 2021 and the Internet Cable Landing Station Policy 2023, and it lists no AVGC, animation, gaming or XR policy, scheme or notification [8].

What the budget documents say

The budget speech the West Bengal finance department published for 2026-27 does not mention animation, visual effects, gaming, extended reality or Webel, and allocates Rs 1,464.19 crore to technical education, training and skill development [1]. That speech was presented on 5 February 2026 [1]. The budget for the financial year 2026-27 was presented on 22 June 2026, with total expenditure of Rs 4,38,775 crore [2].

The June speech and the departmental expenditure volume for 2026-27 are not among the documents this check could retrieve, so the figure cannot be ruled out of them: what the published February speech shows is no animation, visual effects, gaming, extended reality or Webel line at all [1].

What an institution in Bengal can act on

The scheme with money attached and a named agency behind it is the central one, and the beneficiary institutions for its labs are still being decided [4]. The institute designing it has introduced 18 courses, has 136 students enrolled and has 15 participants through its train-the-trainer programme, and has run as the national centre of excellence for AVGC-XR from the IICT-NFDC campus in Mumbai since July 2025 [5]. The AVGC Promotion Task Force report projects that the sector may need around two million skilled professionals by 2030 [6].

Webel's training remit is stated on its own site [7]. The policy list the state IT department publishes does not include one for the sector [8].

Sources

  1. [1]finance.wb.gov.in
  2. [2]prsindia.org
  3. [3]pib.gov.in
  4. [4]pib.gov.in
  5. [5]pib.gov.in
  6. [6]pib.gov.in
  7. [7]webel.in
  8. [8]itewb.gov.in
  9. [9]animationxpress.com
  10. [10]respawn.outlookindia.com
  11. [11]animationxpress.com
  12. [12]animationxpress.com

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