CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government has unveiled plans to establish the Viyan AVGC-XR Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Chennai - a flagship initiative aimed at positioning the state as a national hub for animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, and extended reality (AVGC-XR).

The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT), which is leading the project, had issued an expression of interest (EoI) this week inviting industry partners, academic institutions, and technology providers to collaborate in developing, operating, and managing the facility.

The CoE is designed to foster innovation, content creation, and advanced skill development in emerging digital media sectors.

In its first phase, the CoE will operate from a 12,000-15,000 sq.ft leased facility in Chennai, offering co-working and private studios for startups and MSMEs, along with specialised labs for performance capture, 2D/3D art, audio/foley services, and XR testing.

It will also house hardware rental labs for prototyping and production, and shared spaces for screenings and networking events.

The second phase will expand on a one-lakh sq.ft campus, designed to accommodate up to 500 professionals, with dedicated studios for quality assurance, XR development, and digital content prototyping.

The third phase envisions regional “spokes” in Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, Salem, and Tirunelveli, providing infrastructure and training access to startups and MSMEs outside Chennai.

Industry partners will play a central role in advising on hardware and software procurement, ensuring the facility is equipped with cutting-edge tools for motion capture, game development, and immersive content production. They will also assist in everyday operations.

The initiative comes as the state is preparing to unveil a new industry-driven policy to develop its AVGC-XR ecosystem.

“Unlike other policies that are mostly incentive-led, this one is centred on building talent. Almost all of it has been shaped by industry inputs,” IT Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan had said on the sidelines of the India Game Developer Conference (IGDC) in Chennai last week.

The upcoming policy is anchored on four pillars – education and skilling, infrastructure and shared resources, business-environment reforms, and targeted incentives.

It proposes embedding gaming, 2D/3D animation and XR modules at school and university levels, establishing centres of excellence, creating shared-licence facilities for startups and studios, and setting up a facilitation cell.

The story is reported by C Shivakumar for The New Indian Express