Priyank Kharge Announces Bengaluru GAFX 2026, Spotlights Karnataka's Expanding Creative Economy
Bengaluru GAFX 2026 will unite global AVGC-XR stakeholders to discuss technology, investment, and policy shaping India’s creative economy.
Published : February 2, 2026 at 6:29 PM IST
Bengaluru: The Government of Karnataka, in association with the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI) and Startup Karnataka, on Sunday announced the seventh edition of Bengaluru GAFX 2026, Asia’s largest annual conference and exhibition for animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, XR and immersive content. The event will be held from February 27 to March 1, 2026, at Hotel Lalit Ashok in Bengaluru.
The three-day summit is expected to bring together creators, studios, technologists, investors, and industry leaders from across the global media and entertainment ecosystem. The event will focus on collaboration, investment, and the evolving role of technology in creative industries.
Addressing the media, Minister for IT and Biotechnology Priyank Kharge said Karnataka continues to build a strong ecosystem for the AVGC and XR sectors through policy support, skill development and industry partnerships.
Creative Industry Expands Beyond Animation
Kharge said the creative industry in Karnataka has moved far beyond traditional animation and now includes visual effects, gaming, audio design, and artificial intelligence-driven content creation.
“Today, AI is being used to create and visualise content, including news. We already see AI-generated images in daily newspapers, and this technology will only scale further,” he said.
He cited a recent example where a realistic AI-generated simulation was created using a limited number of reference images, highlighting how quickly creative technologies are advancing. According to him, the summit will provide space to discuss how policies, skills and business models must evolve alongside these changes.
The theme of this year’s GAFX, ‘Evolution Reloaded’, reflects the need for the industry to adapt to new tools, platforms and workflows, he added.
Investor Connect, IP Focus and Orange Economy Push
A key feature of GAFX 2026 will be its B2B investor connect, which links intellectual property owners and creators with investors, technology firms and studios seeking original content. Kharge said this platform has helped bridge the gap between creative talent and capital, making it easier for ideas to reach the market.
He also spoke about Karnataka’s focus on the Orange Economy, which covers creative and cultural industries driven by technology. “The government has invested Rs 50 crore under this policy, and we are targeting 20 per cent growth by 2026,” he said.
Karnataka currently contributes nearly 20 per cent of India’s media and entertainment industry, with over 300 AVGC-XR studios and a workforce of around 15,000 professionals, supported by a growing freelance and gig ecosystem.
Inviting industry stakeholders to participate, Kharge said GAFX has grown into a platform comparable to the Bengaluru Tech Summit in scale and relevance. He also acknowledged the role of ABAI, which has worked closely with the government on AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics) policy, centres of excellence and the organisation of the summit.
Notably, the government acknowledges India’s AVGC sector as a rapidly growing industry and projects it to require 2 million professionals by 2030. To this effect, the Union Budget 2026-27 proposed to support the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), Mumbai, in establishing AVGC Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges.
“GAFX has reached its seventh edition and continues to stay ahead in building a strong creative economy ecosystem,” Kharge said.
