“We have a committee which is working on issues like how to increase localisation, how to boost manufacturing of components and employment. It is a public-private partnership committee,” Goyal said while inaugurating a website for India Toy Fair 2021 along with education minister Ramesh Pokhiryal ‘Nishank’ and textiles minister Smriti Zubin Irani.
The first India Toy Fair-2021 is being organized on a virtual platform from February 27-March 2 that offers the opportunity to explore and buy toys from over a thousand exhibitors across the country.
The committee is working on 24 champion sectors including toys and furniture and sector-specific subgroups have been formed to come out with actionable points aimed to promote growth of these sectors.
Goyal also said that the government has taken steps such as raising import duty and issuing quality control order to promote the toys industry.
The import duty on toys rose to 60% from 20% last year and a Quality Control Order requires all toys and material for children below 14 years to be certified by the BIS which is India’s national standards body.
The measures were crucial as of India’s $1.75 billion toy market, more than 85% comprises imports, which amounted to around $1.5 billion in FY20. China and Taiwan account for around 90% of India’s toy imports.
The domestic toy industry comprises around 4,000 MSMEs and is primarily in the unorganised sector.
Goyal also said the government will explore roping in industry to setup toy libraries at railway stations to boost locally made indigenous toys.