FICCI announces appointment of Jyoti Deshpande, Co-Chair of FICCI Media & Entertainment Board

Feb 14, 2022

NEW DELHI, 14 February 2022: FICCI announces the appointment of Ms Jyoti Deshpande, CEO, Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd. as the Co-Chair of FICCI Media & Entertainment Board. This is the first time that a woman executive from media industry has been appointed as one of the office bearers of this very important vertical.   

Ms Deshpande is an industry veteran with over 29 years of experience across the country's foremost media & entertainment companies. She pioneered Eros' early entry into the OTT space (through Eros Now) and established Jio Studios as a key player in the entertainment value chain.  She is currently serving as the CEO of Viacom18, making her the first woman to lead a Big-4 Media and Entertainment company. Jyoti has featured among Fortune India as well as Business Today's 50 Most Powerful Women in Business lists, both of which celebrate the journeys and triumphs of women who not only impact their organization but are also thought leaders in their industry.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr Arun Chawla, Director General, FICCI said, "FICCI has always been at the forefront of collaborating with various stakeholders across Indian commerce and the government to effect meaningful policy discussions and adoption. Given the very dynamic nature of the Media and Entertainment industry this engagement is crucial for the development of the sector and the allied ecosystems. Jyoti's experience across the value chain of this industry makes her an apt choice to lead the Committee's holistic advisory agenda. I look forward to working with her."

Elaborating on her vision for the industry, Ms Jyoti Deshpande, Co-Chair of FICCI Media & Entertainment Board, said, "I feel truly fortunate to be part of an industry that is at the cusp of phenomenal growth, straddling traditional theatres to metaverse and everything in between like television and OTT. I look forward to working with industry captains, custodians of brands that fuel consumption in our economy and the government as we look to leverage the confluence of technology, content and distribution to move the needle rapidly towards the $100 billion industry that we have been aspiring to be for a number of years now. The M&E industry can very much be a true embodiment of the 'Make in India and Show the World' mantra and I thank Mr. Sanjiv Mehta and FICCI for offering me this platform to meaningfully collaborate on shaping the future of an industry that I have invested my whole life in and am very passionate about."

FICCI Media & Entertainment Board drives the Media & Entertainment Committee. It counts promoters and CEOs of the Media & Entertainment industry across verticals like TV and Radio Broadcast, Film Production & Exhibition, Print, Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, AR/VR/MR (AVGC-XR), Entertainment Events, OOH etc. It always remains at the forefront for policy changes towards the growth and development of Media & Entertainment industry in India.