Toymakers disappointed with Union Budget

South India is home to unique toy clusters like Etikopakka and Nirmal in Telangana, Kondapalli in Andhra Pradesh, Channapatna and Kinhal in Karnataka and Vilachery in Tamil Nadu. But there is a caveat for these toy clusters to get benefitted from the big global push of National Action Plan for Toys planned by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech.

“The toys are made of light wood. They are coloured with vegetable dyes and they have a niche appeal and market. But it will require something else to make them a global phenomenon,” says Subhajit Saha who has been lobbying and geting GI tags for multiple products in Telangana.

“The scheme will focus on development of clusters, skills, and a manufacturing ecosystem that will create high-quality, unique, innovative and sustainable toys that will represent the ‘Made in India’ brand,” said Ms. Sitharaman said in the speech.