On 24th June, Prime minister Narendra Modi addressed the participants of the Toycathon. He urged everyone to focus on the toy industry. Amidst the mission to go Vocal for Local, the potential of the toy industry, which had been stagnant for years, has come to light. The Toy industry can bring growth to the neediest segment of India.
“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.” -Carl Jung.
Toycathon 2021 was a competition jointly launched by the Ministry of Education, WCD Ministry, MSME Ministry, DPIIT, Textile Ministry, I&B Ministry, and AICTE on 5th January 2021.
It was organized to get a fresh perspective on toys from India’s students or professionals from different backgrounds; they were asked to submit their innovative toys and games based on Indian culture and civilizations.
Around 1.2 lakh participants had registered and presented more than 17000 ideas for the Toycathon 2021. out of which 1567 ideas have been shortlisted for the three days online Toycathon Grand Finale.
Current position of the toy industry in the global market
Currently, India’s share in the $100 billion global toy market is only around one billion dollars, primarily dominated by the products imported from China. “India imports almost 80% of its toys from foreign countries.
This means that crores of rupees are drained out of the country. This needs to be changed.” said PM Modi. The Indian Toy Industry has excellent potential to create revenue for India shortly.
The Indian toy market has the potential to double itself by 2025, according to a FICCI-KPMG report.
Sustainable toys
Moreover, the majority of these toys do not represent Indian heritage, civilization, and value systems. This initiative will promote toys from various cultural backgrounds.
The manufacturers are more focused on producing educational games that parents prefer more. Quality toys are rarely available in the country, and the available ones are expensive as they are imported.
This affects the cost-sensitive population, and they resort to cheaper Chinese products made of plastic, which harms the children and the economy. The promotion of Indian toys will make quality toys available.
The story of a mother becoming an entrepreneur
A small business entrepreneur and a mother, Nisha, based in Chennai, started manufacturing toys made of neem wood. Her daughter was diagnosed with Atopic dermatitis that causes rashes and allergies on the skin due to the plastic toys.
She looked for organic toys around the city, but there were not many choices. She decided to make toys out of neem wood. With the help of the local artisans and carpenters, she learned to make toys and incorporated them with her idea.
They have successfully created wooden sky mobiles, teethers, rattlers, slides, standing toys, puzzles, and more.
Now they are finding ways to make it more colourful and attractive that will not need artificial colours. When the kids play with it or eat, it will not cause any harm to their well-being. Parents and Kids are attracted to shiny and colourful things.
Ariro, Nisha’s company, gets these toys checked for quality as they are handmade. They try their best to standardize each of these toys as efficiently as possible.
Digitization of toys
India has the world’s largest youth population of 356 million people. In this digital, India will have 829 million smartphone users by 2022, according to Cisco Systems. This means a potential surge in demand for various types of video games.
Nowadays, kids are more attracted to screens and less towards toys, resulting in the closure of many retail toy shops. The hit these shops have taken from the pandemic has led to a complete loss. The retailers have cut down the stocks and space as the footfalls have dipped to 60%.
The Digital or video games industry is multiplying, and India is one of the top five ranking countries in the world. In Fiscal Year 2019, online gaming in India was estimated at ₹6,200 crore market with an estimated 300 million gamers.
This has the most significant impact on the toy industry. As this constant exposure to the screen has health impacts, parents want their kids to prefer toys.
Global presence of Indian toy market
India’s billionaire, Mukesh Ambani, took over Hamleys, a 259-year-old British toy store chain, in 2019. This takeover will contribute to the Indian Toy Industry at a vast capacity.
The country’s handmade toys or cultural toys will have a global platform to sell, and the sales of local artisans will get a significant boost. By acquiring Hamleys by the reliance, it plans on making the shopping of toys an experience and quality toys at affordable prices.
Initiatives like Toycathon, vocal for local, Ariro, will offer a fresh approach towards toys. With the innovation of new attractive toys, the Indian Toy Industry will be set to boost.
“Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.” – Abraham Maslow.
