Aequs to invest Rs 4,000 crore on toy cluster in Koppal

Aequs Group is bringing six global toy manufacturers to set up manufacturing units at its upcoming special economic zone (SEZ) for toys at Koppal in north Karnataka. These companies will be manufacturing electronic and mechanical toys, packing materials, and components at the upcoming SEZ.

The company on Saturday laid the foundation stone for the toy cluster, the first of its kind in India. Aequs and its joint venture partners together will be investing Rs 4,000 crore at the toy cluster, which is spread over 400 acres. It will be operational by the end of next fiscal, a top company official said.

"We are signing MoU with six companies from Vietnam, and Hong Kong among others. Global toymakers such as GFT Group, Playgro, and Hasbro as well as packaging firms like Sterling will be setting up their manufacturing units at our SEZ for toys at Koppal," Aravind Melligeri, Chairman & CEO, Aequs Group told DH.

He said that while the JV partners will invest Rs 2,500 crore, the Aequs Group will be investing another Rs 1,500 crore to create the basic infrastructure at the SEZ. Of this, around Rs 700 crore will be invested in creating infrastructure and logistics facilities. The entire SEZ will be developed in phases and over the next five years, it will create direct jobs for 25,000 persons and indirect jobs for 1 lakh persons.

Over the next five years, the company will be developing a 3 million sq. feet area with a build-to-suit facility for toymakers. The facility will have an SEZ for exports and a domestic tariff area (DTA) for the domestic market. There will be facilities for manufacturing all kinds of toys such as design, molding, painting, packaging, etc, Melligeri said.

Located on National Highway 63, the Koppal Toy Cluster has access to the highway, ports, airports and major cities. It will have dedicated railway siding, roads, and other logistics facilities.

While Aequs will create the required infrastructure for setting up manufacturing units at the SEZ, the Karnataka government will provide a capital subsidy on plant and machinery, training and logistics. "We have appealed to the union minister Piyush Goyal to include toys under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme," Melligeri said.

He said the toys manufactured at the Koppal SEZ will be available in the domestic market ahead of Diwali and before Christmas in the global markets in 2022. Aequs is eyeing a revenue of $450 million from the toy cluster in the next five years.