Govt exploring incentives to promote Indian Toy Industry: Secretary DPIIT

Toys are of serious economic concern says secretary DPIIT; exhorts toy industry to achieve both quality and competitiveness

Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has said that toys are of serious economic concern and a very comprehensive toy master plan has been prepared with various Ministries and State Governments involved to promote the toy industry. He was speaking at a webinar on Driving Investments to India-Making India the next Global Hub for Manufacturing and Sourcing of Toys, during the India Toy Fair-2021, on 28 February 2021. Dr. Mohapatra said that the Government wants Indian toys to achieve both quality and competitiveness and is exploring what kind of incentives are required by the toy industry. The webinar provided an overview of India’s competitive advantages, regulatory support available, guidance on doing business in India and highlighted experiences of toy associations and companies in India.

The second day of The India Toy Fair-2021, being held on virtual platform at theindiatoyfair.in, hosted over 35 eminent speakers from industry, academia and the Government. There were seven panel discussions/ webinars and three activities were organised.

The Panel Discussion on How Toys and Play based Pedagogy go hand in hand with Education focused on role of toys in child’s development through education, fostering creativity and innovation in children with the help of toys as part of curriculum in schools. During the session Shri R Ramanan, Mission Director & Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog, said that toys and play take children on a journey of exploration to understand life and how to deal with the challenges, the journey leads to discovery, discovery leads to curiosity and curiosity leads to acquisition of essential life skills.

The webinar on Integrated learning with Toys, by the State Government of Gujarat, explored the potential of toy-based learning and leaning towards a design-based approach.

The webinar on Marketing and Global Trends in Toy sector provided insights on the marketing trends and global trends across the toy sector, highlighting the potential factors that affect the toy industry as a whole.

The webinar on New Trends - Electronics and STEM Toys, covered emerging toy trends in the national and international markets, their impact on procurement and supply chains and the role of standards in safeguarding and developing Indian brands, It also discussed the impact of emerging trends on children, rising popularity of STEM toys and regulating practice of advertising to children.

The webinar on Online Video Games – Boon or Bane, discussed several aspects of opportunities and challenges of online video games and what it takes to use online video games in responsible manner.

The webinar on Role of Design in upscaling production of local products and promoting nationalism explored the importance of design in enhancing domestic production while advocating sense of nationalism.

The activities during Day 2 included Craft Demonstration from Etikoppaka Toy Cluster and Kondapalli Toy Cluster. Another activity involved demonstration on Making ‘Play & Learn Toy’ with waste material available at home by Pratham NGO and UNICEF. The day also witnessed a Virtual Tour of Shankar Doll Museum, New Delhi.