The exports of Indian toys have been increasing year-on-year and reached their peak at US $ 177.04 million in FY 2021-22. Though the export of toys has also declined by 13 per cent to US $ 153.88 million in the last fiscal.
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in last 9 years, the exports from the toy industry have increased more than 4 times as it was US $ 36.91 million in 2013-14 and US $ 153.88 million in 2022-23.
Textile toys/soft toys is also a growing segment as many players in this category are continuously expanding.
As per various market research reports, the Indian toy industry is expected to grow to US $3 billion by 2028, registering a compound annual growth rate of 12 per cent, between 2022 and 2028.
The government has taken many steps for the toys industry in recent years as it revised the import duty to 70 per cent on toys which has given a boost to local manufacturing and the ‘Quality Control Order’ was also introduced to regulate the quality of toys in accordance with the Bureau of Indian Standards. The National Action Plan for Toys, launched in 2020, brought 15 ministries together providing momentum to the toy manufacturers.
At the same time, toy companies have now more marketing opportunities especially to add new clients as various toy fairs and exhibitions are now held regularly.
There are 4,000 MSMEs involved in toy manufacturing so the Indian toy industry is dominated by small players and facing stiff competition from China so a PLI scheme for domestic toy manufacturers would provide a much-needed boost to the sector.
