Remember your childhood from Barbie dolls to Hot Wheels cars; what was written in the back? " Made in China "; this is changing with the revival of the Indian toy manufacturing sector under the current Modi government.

The import of toys went down by 70% last year while at the same time export of Indian toys increased by 60%. India’s toy import bill came down from $675 million in Financial Year 2018-19 (FY19) to $146 million in Financial Year 2021-22 (FY22). Exports jumped in the same timeframe from $311 million to $503 million.

Imported toys were subjected to stringent QC tests while at the same time custom duties were increased from 20% to 60%. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) ordered sample testing of each consignment, and in case of failure, the entire consignment was sent back or destroyed at the cost of the importer.

The government issued new licenses for domestic manufacturers and also issued toy quality control orders through which they were compulsorily brought under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification. This made toys manufactured in India conform to the relevant Indian standards. BIS has granted 843 licenses to domestic manufacturers and 6 international toy manufacturers.

This seems to be the pet project of Indian PM Modi as in his Man Ki Baat address in August 2020, post the Galwan clash with China he had called for a " rebranding of Indian toys industry ", this seems to have been implemented, unlike other policies which seem to be just on the paper. PM Modi has emphasized making toys based on Indian mythology too which can be then translated as Indian soft power.

India used to get 90% of the toys earlier from China which was of cheap quality and toxic, which has effectively stopped now. There are expectations of India replacing China as the number one toy manufacturer at the global level too.

Speaking to News18, Yashwinder Singh Kohli, director of Dimpy Soft Toys, said: “Indian market has been traditionally dominated by Chinese products because they are cheaper. However, the new quality control measures have filtered out many products from China. In an episode of ‘Mann ki Baat’, our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, had asked manufacturers to rebrand the Indian Toy Story. He also emphasized spreading Indian values and wisdom among children through our indigenous toys. Due to the push by the government in this direction, all manufacturers increased capacity of production and increased exports."

India has always had the expertise in manufacturing toys since the ancient-medieval times with toy manufacturing centers like Channapatna in Karnataka. Indian toys were traditionally made of wood until the toxic low-quality plastic toys started making inroads from China.