Netflix is going to spend Rs 3,000 crore in producing regional content for Indian audiences in the immediate future, announced Reed Hastings, CEO and founder of the streaming giant.

“We will invest Rs 3,000 crore on content in India this year and the next. The Internet does many things but it lets you tell good stories too, and there are so many great stories here in India,” said Hastings, at an ongoing event being held in New Delhi.

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“We are only getting started here and the centrepiece of our story is content,” Hastings added.

He also confirmed that right now, India ranks among the top priorities for the brand as far as investment goes, along with nations like the US and Spain.

While speaking at the event, Hastings on Friday said currently the video streaming service has total 160 million subscribers globally but he didn’t reveal the Indian numbers yet.

With the announcement, it is obvious that Netflix is planning to reach out to audiences with bigger and better content in a market that is slowly getting crowded with many players.

“The market is competitive. There’s Amazon Prime, Youtube, Hotstar, and many more. That’s the reason we are investing big,” he reasoned.

For Netflix, the heavy investment seems to be a wager to ensure heavier returns, considering the OTT business wholly banks on subscription and no advertisement revenue.

“We have no advertisement model, so its all about pleasing our members,”! Hastings explained, adding, “In a way it simplifies things for us not hvng advertisers. It lets us create content freely”

Speaking on the variety of content on a digital platform Hasting said, “Consumers want variety. For instance, if they like ‘The Irishman’ that does not mean they are ready for just another film of the same kind. We always look for new stories.”

During the conversation the Netflix honcho also spoke about the freedom of creativity behind the content saying, “You can never take freedom for granted. It is important to safeguard freedom and we are pleased with way things have been in India. The Indian government haven’t imposed a broadcast conduct. On our part, we always say this if you don’t want to watch something you don’t have to watch. It’s really a self-regulation model for the OTTs. At our end, we label shows to denote sex, violence or any other thematic content.”

Netflix has recently announced around 24 feature films and 16 web series in India. These featured items will be made available to the audiences by big production houses of Bollywood like Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment and Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment.

Some of the series that has received great success from India include Little Things, series of Mighty Little Bheem, Hastings said.

(With input from agencies)