India’s toy industry poised to challenge China as New Delhi readies new subsidy

The Indian government will ‘very soon’ announce a scheme to subsidise the local toy industry, further shrinking China’s share in the domestic market

India’s toy imports have declined by more than 70 per cent in the past three years, while exports have jumped by 61.3 per cent over the same period

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India is poised to roll out a new subsidy scheme to help its toy industry better compete with China. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 5:00am, 13 Dec 2022Updated: 5:38am, 13 Dec 2022

A new government initiative promises to help Indian toymakers scale up production capacity to compete internationally, further shrinking China’s share in the domestic market.

The Indian government will “very soon” announce a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the toy industry, with a proposed outlay of US$424 million, said Ajay Aggarwal, president of the Toy Association of India.

“We have appointed a committee for consultation with the government to finalise the PLI draft,” said Aggarwal.

The scheme would last for five years and subsidise the sale of toys by manufacturers in the country.

Manufacturing has now moved in three other directions – Mexico, Vietnam and India

Amit Chakraborty

India’s toy industry has been a rare bright spot in the country’s drive to cut import reliance on China in recent years. New Delhi has implemented various policies to reduce dependence on Chinese goods and boost local manufacturing, while taking advantage of Western efforts to diversify from the world’s No 2 economy.