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India's national creative-tech institute enrolled 136 students in its first year, against a stated goal of about 300

The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies enrolled 136 students across 18 courses in its first year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting told the Lok Sabha on 11 March 2026 [4]. A government note of November 2025 had set the inaugural batch at about 300 students [5].

By AVGC-XR Desk ·

The Indian Institute of Creative Technologies was established under a memorandum of understanding between the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Government of Maharashtra, signed on 11 April 2025 [7]. It is a not-for-profit Section 8 company, 48 per cent government-owned, with 34 per cent held by the Centre and 14 per cent by Maharashtra, and the remaining 52 per cent split equally between FICCI and CII [6]. The institute gives its operating address as the National Film Development Corporation campus on Pedder Road in Mumbai, and lists a further campus at Aarey, Borivali Taluk, Film City, Goregaon (East) [8].

The first intake

A Press Information Bureau note of 18 November 2025 set the goal at training approximately 300 students in the inaugural batch [5]. The written reply of 11 March 2026 puts actual enrolment at 136 students across 18 distinct courses [4]. Against that goal, 136 is 45 per cent, a percentage the Desk has worked out from the two published figures rather than one either document states [5].

The same reply describes modern classrooms, immersive studios and specialised facilities for sound and editing, and says 15 participants have completed a train-the-trainer initiative [9].

The founding grant

The April 2025 release states that the Government of India had already provided an initial one-time budgetary grant of ₹391.15 crore for infrastructure development and initial operations [10]. A release of 19 December 2025 gives the same ₹391.15 crore as the allocation for the institute's development [11]. A note published between them, on 18 November 2025, instead describes an initial budget of ₹400 crore for the first campus [12].

What it teaches

IICT opened admissions for its first batch in July 2025 with six specialised courses in gaming, four in post production and eight in animation, comics and XR [13]. The December 2025 release describes 17 specialised academic programmes across gaming, post-production, animation, comics and XR [14]. The March 2026 reply counts 18 distinct courses [15].

The institute's admissions page sets out a four-step process of counselling, a Creative Quotient Test, a personal interview with portfolio review, and enrolment, with an enrolment fee of ₹10,000 [16].

Partners and the skilling programme

Google, YouTube, Adobe, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA and JioStar were named in July 2025 as partners committed to curriculum development, scholarships, internships and placement support [17]. IICT signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of York for collaborative research, faculty exchange and international certification pathways [18].

The ministry opened enrolment on 4 May 2026 for a national AI skilling programme for the creative sector, developed with Google and YouTube and implemented by IICT [19]. That programme offers 15,000 scholarships, with a first phase of approximately 33 hours of online training [20]. Its 15,000 places are about 110 times the first classroom intake, a ratio the Desk has worked out from the two published figures [20].

What the published record does not show

- Which of the 18 courses the 136 enrolled students are taking, or how many are in each [4]. - Why the grant is given as ₹391.15 crore in April 2025 and as an initial budget of ₹400 crore in November 2025 [12]. - Whether the institute runs 17 academic programmes or 18 courses [14]. - Programme durations, seat counts and tuition fees, none of which the admissions page gives [16]. - A completion date for the permanent campus at Film City [8]. - Placement or internship outcomes for the first batch [9].

Sources

  1. [1]Report via Google News
  2. [2]Report via Google News
  3. [3]Report via Google News
  4. [4]pib.gov.in
  5. [5]pib.gov.in
  6. [6]pib.gov.in
  7. [7]pib.gov.in
  8. [8]iict.org
  9. [9]pib.gov.in
  10. [10]pib.gov.in
  11. [11]pib.gov.in
  12. [12]pib.gov.in
  13. [13]newsonair.gov.in
  14. [14]pib.gov.in
  15. [15]pib.gov.in
  16. [16]iict.org
  17. [17]pib.gov.in
  18. [18]newsonair.gov.in
  19. [19]pib.gov.in
  20. [20]pib.gov.in

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