During his visit to India for a summit, Reed Hastings, the CEO of the US-based content streaming giant Netflix has revealed that he plans to put in a fresh investment of $428.5 million (Rs. 30 bln) to accelerate the production of original content from India.
Although Netflix refrains from divulging specific data about its user base, reports estimate that there are nearly two million monthly active users of the platform in India.
“’Sacred Games’ travelled all over the world. ‘Delhi Crime’ is one of our biggest series. Some people said we shouldn’t tell that story, but we’re really committed to artistic freedom,” Hastings was quoted as saying at the 17th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi on Friday.
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While announcing his plans for this hefty investment in Indian content, Hastings also revealed that the millennial romance series "Little Things" did very well on the platform and a children’s animated show titled “Mighty Little Bheem” – that originated from India has been viewed by 27 million households outside the country.
While people in the US pay $50 (approx. Rs. 3,566) for mobile phone access to Netflix, in India, it costs approx $2.79 (Rs.199).
“Pricing is very low here, and the market is very large. That’s why our Rs 199 a month pricing is very competitive,” the Netflix CEO added.
Netflix launched in India back in 2016 and the platform has over 160 million subscribers globally.
Earlier in September, a report revealed that India's online video market will have more than 500 million online video subscribers by 2023.
