Bengaluru, Jan 29 : Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Monday inaugurated the fifth edition of GAFX2024, the country's leading meet in the animation, visual effects, gaming and comics, here.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day event, Siddaramaiah said: "We aim to leverage Karnataka's existing strength in IT to establish the state as a global leader in AVGCXR. We envision to position Karnataka as a global innovation leader in AVGCXR technology and create a robust talent pool by transforming the state into a centre of excellence for AVGCXR and generate 30,000 new jobs in the sector by 2028 and ensure exports constitute at least 80 per cent of the sector's revenue."

The government intends to create a platform that brings collaboration among industry, academia, and government to work on the learnings, trends, challenges, and create a future roadmap of the AVGC sector.

Karnataka was the first state to address the domestic and global needs of the sector by launching the AVGC Policy in 2012.

GAFX, was launched by the Congress government in 2016, under the leadership of the Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah and Priyank Kharge, Minister of IT-BT.

This year, the event is spread over 115 sessions with 130 speakers, out of which 22 are eminent international experts from ten different countries.

The highlight will be B2B meetings organized to facilitate growth of business in the state.

This will encourage start-ups and give them an opportunity to pitch their ideas and products to the VC community.

With a record 4,500 attendees per day in 2023, GAFX 2024 is expected to surpass this achievement. Nivruti Rai, MD and CEO, Invest India, said: "Over the last 20 years, while the world was focusing on physical infrastructure, India was focusing on digital. We drove a lot more innovations and so India has the cheapest per GB cost at 13 cents.

"The $26 billion media and entertainment will become $35 billion in 2025 and by 2030, India would have more than doubled this industry. We, with the digital infrastructure and software capability, and with our CEOs could do a lot in the front-end, not just back-end," she added.

"The Bengaluru GAFX B2B Forum acts as a catalyst, propelling local talent onto the global stage, defining Karnataka as the leader in AVGC-XR intellectual property creation," Priyank Kharge said. The state holds a commendable 20 per cent share in the Indian media and entertainment industry, employing more than 15,000 professionals with over 300 specialised AVGC-XR studios. Karnataka also houses several education institutes dedicated to animation, visual effects, and gaming that bring out professional industry leaders.

Karnataka has enabled setting up of Digital Art Centers in 27 Fine Arts colleges catering to 600 students and one AVGC-XR Finishing School.

GAFX, in association with ABAI, has served as the leading platform in India over the last decade to position India and its talent as the driving force of the global AVGC industry.

/IANS