Sitharaman eyes 25% global toy market share
Citing the toy industry’s vast growth potential, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said Indian manufacturers should aspire to capture at least a one-fourth of the global toy market share, which is estimated to reach $179 billion by 2032.
India exports toys to 153 countries and their value reached $186 million in 2025-26, while imports have come down drastically by 71 per cent during 2019-26, she said in her address at the international toy exhibition here. India’s toy market is projected to reach $five billion by 2034, while the global toy market is projected to reach $179 billion by 2032, she said.
“We are still aiming at only ($) five billion by 2034. I think we are capable of doing a lot better. We have immense potential to capture; at least aim for one quarter of it ($179 billion). That’s a big number, no doubt. But we should aim at higher. Our aspiration must be far greater to capture a significantly larger share of the expanding global market,” the minister said.
Sitharaman said toy imports were earlier concentrated from one country, which was dumping a lot of their cheap goods that had safety issues and were not healthy for children. She also asked the industry to focus on scale and branding.
“Manufacturing is important, but branding creates value. Enduring value is only when your brand can be identified. Aankh band karke kharid lo (Buy it without a second thought), that kind of a branding confidence should come,” she said.
Citing the example of French sports retailer Decathlon, she said: “I was impressed to see how they spend time for quality, and also for branding”.
Sporting goods market has been seeing a lot of innovation, and they bring it into their stalls, she said. “That’s the kind of thing I’m asking.”
The Government has taken a series of measures to boost the manufacturing of toys and reduce import dependence from countries like China.
The Government has rolled out mandatory quality control norms and increased import duties from 20 per cent to 60 per cent.
It developed a comprehensive National Action Plan for Toys in 2020 to boost local manufacturing and incentivise toy and handicraft manufacturers to make India the next global hub of toys.
The plan is implemented in collaboration with 14 central ministries/departments, including education, textiles, railways, science and technology, and information and broadcasting.
Further, under the recent Free Trade Agreements (FTA), including the India-UAE Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Trade (ECTA), the partner countries are providing zero-duty market access for Indian toys.
Talking about the ‘SFURTI’ (Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries) programme of the Ministry of MSME, the finance minister suggested that BJP’s Lok Sabha MP Bansuri Swaraj to identify a cluster in the national capital for toy manufacturing.
