PM Modi asks people to be vocal for local toys

Modi also said India's share is only about $1.5 billion in the global toy market of approximately $100 billion

India is keen to share a pie in the $100 billion global toy market, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking young entrepreneurs to leave a strong Indian presence on the toy sector.

Modi urged the participants of the Toycathon to ensure India’s diverse and rich culture and traditions get reflected in new games and toys designed in the country.

He expressed concern over 80 per cent of India’s toy market demands being met through imports and asked entrepreneurs to reverse the trend.

The Prime Minister also rued the fact that most of the online and digital games available in the market were not based on Indian concepts and many such games promote violence and cause mental stress.

“Our focus should be on developing toys, games that present every aspect of Indianness in interesting, interactive ways,” Modi said.

The world wants to learn about India’s capabilities, art and culture, and society, and toys can play a big role in that, the Prime Minister said.

Toycathon-2021 was jointly launched by the ministries of Education, Women and Child Development, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Textiles, Information and Broadcasting, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on January 5, 2021 to crowd-source innovative toys and game ideas.

Modi said India has ample content and competence for digital gaming and asked young innovators and startups to be mindful of their responsibility of projecting the true picture of the country’s capabilities and ideas to the world.

The Prime Minister also said that the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence is a huge opportunity for the innovators and creators of the toy industry.

“Many incidents, stories of our freedom fighters and their valour and leadership can be created into gaming concepts,” he stressed.

These innovators have a big role in connecting ‘folk with the future’, Modi said.

Around 1.2 lakh participants from across India registered and submitted more than 17,000 ideas for the Toycathon 2021, out of which 1,567 ideas were shortlisted for the three-day online Toycathon Grand Finale, being held from June 22 to June 24.