Mukesh Ambani's JioStar to invest over Rs 84,000 crore in content in three years

Indian media giant JioStar is set to invest more than Rs 84,000 crore ($10 billion) in content creation in a three-year span, according to vice chairman Uday Shankar. JioStar is a joint venture between Reliance Industries' Viacom18 and Walt Disney India's unit.

Speaking at the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025, Shankar said that content remains a key strategic priority for the platform.

"In FY24 alone, we spent Rs 25,000 crore on content. That number rose to Rs 30,000 crore in FY25, and we're projecting over Rs 32,000-33,000 crore in FY26," he said.

"So, in just three years, our content investment will cross $10 billion." He stressed the need to build content that is deeply tailored to Indian audiences and highlighted the potential of India's video entertainment sector.

Uday Shankar emphasised that JioStar's content investments are rooted entirely in the Indian context, designed by and for Indian audiences.

He pointed out the importance of growing India's own storytelling ecosystem rather than depending on global formats or imported narratives. According to him, the media and entertainment sector has seen little innovation in its monetisation models, still relying heavily on traditional advertising and subscription formats. This lack of evolution has, in his view, held Indian media companies back from reaching the kinds of valuations seen by international players like Netflix and Tencent.

Vivek Couto, managing and executive director at Media Partners Asia, also weighed in on the industry's size, noting that the Indian media sector is currently valued at $30 billion, compared to $200 billion in the U.S. and $75 billion in China.

Shankar further highlighted the untapped potential in tier-III and tier-IV cities, especially in advertising. He said India's advertising market has drawn mainly from the same pool of brands over the years.

"To move forward, we need to tap into the decentralised economic activity happening in Tier-II, III, and IV cities. If we can help these emerging businesses scale, build new brands, and bring them into the advertising ecosystem, it would create enormous value. If that happens, I genuinely believe the market could double in the next five years," he added.