NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary Standing Committee has urged the government to take expeditious steps to set up a national centre of excellence for animation, gaming and special effects to cater to the burgeoning industry in these fields.

Even as a proposal has been pending before the Planning Commission for including this Centre in the Eleventh Five Year Plan on a public-private partnership, the Standing Committee on information technology which deals with issues related to information and broadcasting has estimated that the Centre’s share would be around Rs 750 million. However, the budgetary allocation for this purpose during 2007-08 is only Rs one million.

Earlier, a committee set up by the Ministry had estimated that on an average, at least 3000 trained personnel would be needed every year for the burgeoning fields of animation and gaming, and the special effects is also expected to grow at similar levels. The Committee had been set up to identify new opportunities in the areas of information, communication and entertainment where the state needs to play a pro-active role.

The Standing Committee headed by member of Parliament Nikhil Kumar noted that it had been informed that sizeable investment is being done in the areas of gaming, animation and special effects in places like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Goa.

It has therefore said that the growing demand of skilled manpower increases the significance of such and the Centre should pursue and implement the project at the earliest. This may also need the appointment of a consultant and state-of-the-art technology, highly skilled manpower and huge investment, the Committee adds.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) has estimated that the Indian gaming industry which largely depends on animation, presently estimated at $100 million, is expected to triple by 2009 to $300 million. This signifies a growth of 94 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Interestingly, this segment was estimated at only $30 million in 2005 and $8 million in 2003, showing a CAGR of 78 per cent. Of this, mobile gaming contributes 58 per cent of the total revenue and can go up to 70 per cent with increase in use of mobile phones. Gaming includes consoles, online, multiplayer, casual and mobile games, according to another report by global consultancy firm KPMG.

Meanwhile, the Committee has also strongly deprecated the delay in implementation of the project for setting up of a Museum of Moving Images by the Films Division and said this should be done in right earnest and its timely completion should be ensured. Noting that the project was first conceived during the Tenth Plan, the Committee observes that the only steps taken so far are the Memorandum of Understanding with the National Building Construction Corporation for preparation of a detailed project report.