Can you summarise the damages caused to the Indian toy industry due to imported Chinese toys?
During 1999-2003, India was importing almost 1.2 million toys from China every week. The domestic toy industry was traumatised by the loss of an estimated 80 per cent of its home market to the Chinese goods. According to one estimate, only 200 of the nearly 700 companies in existence survived. How is the domestic toy market placed now? There is no study on the value or the volume of domestic toy market. But industry estimates suggest that the toy market should be around Rs 2,000 crore, of which the organised stuffed toy market accounts for about Rs 300 crore and is growing at over 25 per cent annually. Between Mattel, Funskool and Hanung Toys, we have about 15-18 per cent market share. What is fuelling the domestic toy market? There are three basic reasons for high growth in the stuffed toy market. Firstly, the disposable income of people has grown very fast in the last three-four years. This has led to several changes in the shopping pattern. Secondly, gifting stuffed toys has caught
