The nation is readying for a ‘toy revolution’. In recent years, India has become a hub for the export of substandard and harmful toys. The economic and political interests embedded in innocent toys were not so naive. The center also recognizes it. China has been trying to beat the toy and ‘played’ for ages.
The Indian toy market is worth $ 1.5 billion. But this is only 0.5% of the global market share.
Although the market is growing by 10-15% every year, the Chinese presence is alarmingly high. China and Taiwan hold 90 percent of the domestic toy and allied markets. The Chinese share alone will be 75%. For example, suppose a toy maker in India decides to make a Barbie doll, and the doll’s hair and accessories for her head have to come from China. A toy shopkeeper in Mumbai said that he was the only ‘Indian’ in the shop.
Electronic components are available in China at low prices so Chinese toy manufacturers can sell them here at low prices. In fact, there is not even an electronic toy manufacturer in India. When you see a toy running on a remote and battery, know that it is not made in this country.
The toy market in the country is largely unorganized. The MSME sector has 4,000 toy industry units. The toy industry in India is forecast to reach $ 2-3 billion by 2024.
After many realizations, the country adopted a phased action plan to save the country from Chinese occupation. The maneuver for this started early last year. Initially, the import duty was raised to 60 per cent to discourage toy dumping.
Later, the Bureau of Indian Standards announced new standards for imports to prevent low quality toys from reaching the market. This is the second setback for China.
Quality standards for Chinese products are notorious. In 2007, Mattel, the world’s largest toy company, announced that it was recalling its products. The company recalled 436,000 Chinese-made die-cast toy cars that day. Because they were covered with toxic lead paint.
In the backdrop of geopolitical conflicts in 2020, the upliftment of the local toy industry became part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanibhar Bharat and Vocal for Local campaigns. Today, India aims to become a global hub for the toy industry. The India Toy Fair 2021 is a continuation of these efforts. The event ran from February 27 to March 2. The government is trying to energize the sector by creating sustainable market links for traditional toy manufacturers and increasing the availability of local toys in the market. The industry can be nurtured by building a better vendor ecosystem. The country has taken a big step towards sustainable development by organizing a toy fair. It is hoped that in the changed scenario more startups will enter the toy manufacturing sector.
