Toy-Economy: Indian Toy-Makers Receive Huge Orders At Germany’s Nuremberg International Toy Fair

Indian toy makers, who participated in the five-day international toy fair at Nuremberg in Germany, held from 30 January 2024 to 3 February 2024, have received huge orders worth more than $10 million as they had showcased high-quality products, exporters say.

The Indian toy industry highlighted that the government initiatives like mandatory quality norms, increase in custom duty and a National Action Plan on Toys, have helped in the manufacture of high-quality products which have garnered appreciation at the international platform.

The Indian toy sector is growing at a healthy rate and competing with global players. Among the most popular categories at the fair were those pertaining to wooden toys and educational learning toys.

According to the toy exporters, buyers from countries such as the US, UK, South Africa, and Germany showed interest in their products and placed a good number of orders. There were more than 55 participants from India this year.

The Indian manufacturers at the Nuremberg Toy Show stated that a considerable shift in the buyers’ approach and behavior has been witnessed. India is now being recognised as a lucrative alternative sourcing destination due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call of toy-economy.

The Indian toy makers also expressed that the prestigious platform opened the doors for international joint ventures with Indian manufacturing ecosystem gaining global acceptance.

The interest of global players in partnering with the Indian industry has provided an impetus to the domestic manufacturers to enhance their manufacturing capacity for catering both, to the growing international and national market.

The emerging international recognition of ‘Made-in-India’ toys, is expected to contribute to the increase in exports.

A substantial decrease of 52 per cent in overall import of toys from $332.55 million in FY 2014-15 to $158.7 million in FY 2022-23 and increase of 239 per cent in the exports of toys from $96.17 million in FY 2014-15 to $325.72 million in FY 2022-23 has already been recorded.

While the domestic manufacturers have already experienced success in Germany, tie-ups with internationally acclaimed big players, including Snapdeal and Walmart is in the pipeline.

With the consolidated efforts of the government and industry, the sector is poised for success in the future.

The Nuremberg International Toy Fair concluded on 3 February 2024. Over 2,000 exhibitors from over 65 countries participated in one of the world’s largest toy fairs.