India’s Toy Exports Soar 89.1%, Reflecting Strong Growth in Domestic Manufacturing

New Delhi.: The 17th Toy Biz International B2B Exhibition was organized by the Toy Association of India from 4th to 7th July, 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. The Exhibition aimed at promoting Indian toys, facilitating business networking, and creating opportunities for growth in domestic sales and exports. It witnessed participation of 400 Indian toy brands, 100 international buyers from 40 countries, and around 30,000 business visitors. The exhibition provided platform for connecting manufacturers with wholesalers, retailers, distributors, institutional buyers and e-commerce platforms.

At present, there is no dedicated toy policy of the Government of India.

In 2018-19, Toys worth USD 371.7 Mn were imported into India. A large proportion of these toys were unsafe, substandard, counterfeit, and cheap. Further, a Mystery Shopping exercise conducted in 2019 revealed that only 33% toys in the domestic market were of acceptable quality as per BIS standards.

In order to improve the quality and safety of toys in the country and to promote the overall development of the Indian toy industry, the Government of India has undertaken several initiatives. The key initiatives are as follows:

• Formulation of a comprehensive National Action Plan for Toys (NAPT), comprising 21 action points and coordinated by 14 Ministries and Departments. It focuses on promoting the design and development of toys based on Indian values, culture, and history; encouraging the use of toys as learning resources; organizing hackathons, toy fairs, and grand challenges for toy design and manufacturing; strengthening quality monitoring and restricting the import of substandard and unsafe toys; promoting indigenous toy clusters; and boosting domestic manufacturing.
• Basic Custom Duty (BCD) on Toys (HS Code-9503) was increased from 20% to 60% in February 2020, and subsequently increased to 70% in 2023. Further, the BCD on Parts of Electronic Toys (HS 95030091) revised as 20% in the Budget F.Y. 2025-26.
• A Quality Control Order (QCO) for Toys was issued on 25.02.2020, implemented with effect from 01.01.2021.
• BIS has granted more than 1800 licenses to domestic manufacturers of toys and more than 50 licenses to foreign manufacturers for use of BIS Standard Mark on toys conforming to the Indian Standards for safety of toys.
• The National Education Policy 2020 formulated by Ministry of Education focuses on play and activity-based learning. A handbook on ‘Toy Based Pedagogy’ has been published by NCERT with the objective of ensuring that the learning process for children is enjoyable and fun. It prescribes toys, especially based on indigenous toys and games to be used at different stages to help develop many competencies in young children.
• Cluster-based approach adopted to support domestic Toy industry. The Ministry of MSMEs has approved 18 Toy clusters under the Scheme of Funds for the Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), and the Ministry of Textiles is providing designing and tooling support to 40 Toy clusters.
• More than 700 startups have been recognised by DPIIT under Startup India initiative.
• More than 2,200 exporters have been supported under Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme for exports of Toys.
• Zero duty market access under India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, and India-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement, India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, and India-United Kingdom Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
• Several promotional initiatives have also been undertaken to promote indigenous toys and encourage innovation, including Toycathon, Toy fairs, etc.

These initiatives have resulted in remarkable growth of the Indian Toy industry. As per a BIS survey conducted in 2025, 95% of toy samples were found conforming to the prescribed quality standards, as against 33% in 2019, indicating a substantial improvement in the quality of toys available in the Indian market.

Further, the Indian toy industry has emerged as a net exporter of toys with exports to countries including United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany. The import of toys into India has declined by 37.5%, while toy exports have increased by 89.1%.

Source: Tradestat website & Data for HS 9503, HS 9504 & HS 9505.

This information was given by Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Shri Jitin Prasada in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.