Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday inaugurated the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII) Dakshin – South India Media and Entertainment Summit and assured the industry of all support from the State government including upgrading of infrastructure facilities.

In his inaugural address at the two-day summit at the Chennai Trade Centre, he said lots of youth were interested in films. Therefore, movies which promoted progressive thinking should be made. While welcoming the awareness messages about ill-effects of smoking and drinking in movies, Mr. Stalin requested the film industry to also create awareness about the ill-effects of gutka and other drugs.

In her welcome remarks, Suchitra K. Ella, Chairperson, CII Southern Region and Co-Founder and Joint Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Limited, said all verticals in the sector had bounced back post the pandemic.

Mr. Stalin also released a report titled ‘Regional is the new national – Way Forward for the South India Media and Entertainment Industry’. As per the report, the South Indian Media and Entertainment sector had a market value of about ₹70,000 crore.

The South Indian film industry market is expected to be worth ₹6,050 crore by the end of 2022 with a compounded annual growth rate of 13%. The South Indian print industry market’s worth would be ₹9,900 crore by 2022, with radio, digital, OTT and music following close behind, it added.

With a compound annual growth rate of 25%, the South Indian streaming and digital media market was expected to be worth ₹16,200 crore by end of 2022, nearly two-and-a-half times the film revenues, the report said.

The emerging 5G technology would open up even more opportunities for growth in South India, allowing it to serve a global market with enormous business potential, according to the report.