Goyal asks toy makers to focus on quality, scale up exports; Centre to set up testing facilities
New Delhi, July 4 (TNT): Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said the Centre would establish modern testing facilities across toy manufacturing clusters to help Indian manufacturers meet global quality standards and expand exports.
Addressing the 17th Toy Biz International B2B Exhibition 2026 organised by the Toy Association of India (TAI), Goyal said the facilities would be set up through the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), National Test House and other government and semi-government laboratories.
He urged the industry to identify the testing equipment required to strengthen quality certification and improve the competitiveness of Indian toys in domestic and overseas markets.
Calling upon MSMEs to scale up their operations, Goyal said micro enterprises should aspire to become small, small enterprises should become medium and medium enterprises should grow into large companies.
He noted that export turnover is excluded while determining MSME status, enabling exporters to expand without losing MSME benefits.
The Union Minister also urged the industry to establish skill development centres in partnership with Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and proposed setting up Centres of Excellence under a public-private partnership model for testing, product development, innovation and design.
Emphasising technology adoption, Goyal encouraged manufacturers to use Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD-CAM), CNC machining and other advanced manufacturing technologies to improve product quality and productivity.
Highlighting opportunities created through India’s free trade agreements (FTAs), he said duty-free access was now available in European markets and announced that the India-UK Free Trade Agreement would come into force on July 15.
He urged manufacturers to send business delegations to countries covered under India’s FTAs and participate in overseas exhibitions to build globally recognised Indian toy brands.
The Union Minister said free trade negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Canada, Mexico and Brazil were expected to make progress later this year, creating additional export opportunities for Indian manufacturers.
Reiterating the government’s commitment to quality, Goyal said domestic manufacturers would continue to receive protection against unfair imports and dumping through appropriate trade remedy mechanisms.
Highlighting the sector’s growth, he said toy exports had increased by 239 per cent over the last four years, while imports had declined by 32 per cent.
He said more than 50 toy manufacturing clusters have been established across the country, with nearly 21,000 MSMEs engaged in toy production under the National Toy Action Plan launched in 2020.
The Union Minister urged the industry to focus on quality, branding and innovation to achieve tenfold growth and strengthen India’s position as a global toy manufacturing hub.
TNT TS