New Delhi, May 28 (IANS): Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced a partnership with Nodwin Gaming in the space of e-sports in India.

"Given India's large youth population and rapidly growing internet penetration, e-sports has the potential to become a large part of the country's mainstream sporting culture. It is estimated that by 2021, online gaming will become a $1 billion plus market in India with over 620 million gamers," Airtel said in a statement.

The companies kicked off the tie-up with the launch of Airtel India Esports Tour. It will also have a national ranking and award system for Indian e-sports players based on their year-long performance across top tournaments.

Airtel India Esports Tour will initially cover all Nodwin tournaments across gaming titles of PUBG Mobile, CS:GO, Clash of Clans, FIFA and so on. The broadcast of the Airtel India Esports Tour will be available on Airtel's digital platforms.

Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel, said: "At Airtel, it has always been our aspiration to support a digital India. Gaming is the next frontier of entertainment and it gives us great pleasure to announce our partnership with Nodwin to unlock the potential of e-sports in India."

Initially, the Airtel India Esports Tour will be seeded by Nodwin with its extensive tournament network. It will aspire to be a platform where all tournaments will carry weightage, independent of the organiser. The ecosystem will allow the flexibility of choice for players to play what they want and when they want.