Copyright thehindubusinessline
Tamil Nadu’s Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and XR (AVGC-XR) Policy is in the final leg of approvals with Finance (Ministry), and is expected in a matter of a “few days or weeks,” Tamil Nadu IT Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan said on the sidelines of the International Game Developer Conference 2025, on Wednesday. The State’s AVGC policy will be unique, as it has been readied in deep consultation with the gaming industry, he added. “About three years ago, when I took over the portfolio, our first interaction with the AVGC community was about coming up with an incentive policy. And that policy is now ready to be rolled out,” he said. “As much as 99 per cent of the content of this policy has been requested by the industry as their priorities,” he added. Innovation is replacing the traditional skills in the IT sector and Tamil Nadu stands in a good place when it comes to the potential of creative industries like animation and gaming, said the minister. Unlike other policies, which are mostly economic incentive-oriented, this one addresses skilling and creation of the right talent pool for the sector by way of curriculum modifications, he said. ‘TN, a pioneer in gaming rules’ The policy will have four pillars – educational skilling, infrastructure development, ease of doing business, and financial incentives. Some of the elements it addresses are a facilitation cell in Elcot, a B2B marketplace for AVGC companies, and creation of centres of excellence, among others. Talking about the interest that global companies are showing in Tamil Nadu, he pointed out that for the first time, gaming giant Nintendo was in Chennai at the IGDC. “We are trying to work closely with them to try and get them to choose Chennai [for their presence],” he said. Speaking about the new online gaming law, he noted that Tamil Nadu was a pioneer in releasing gaming regulations. “Reasonable people say that the Centre’s new law is merely a copy of Tamil Nadu’s legislation but with a brute force kind of blunt hammer approach,” he added. “If the Union legislation supersedes us, then we have to wait to see what the courts decide on that,” he added. Published on November 5, 2025
