Indian Toy Industry to Get a Boost at Kids India

With Indian Government’s initiative to support the International buyers at ‘Kids India’, India’s largest international B2B exhibition for toys and products related to children, Indian Toy industry is all set to get a boost at the Expo.

“Also, looking at  an overwhelming interest from the manufacturers of children’s products from all over the world, Kids India, which is running in its fourth year has doubled its size.  The fair will be taking place from September 15-17, 2016 spread over two halls at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre, Mumbai”, says Ernst Kick, CEO, Spielwarenmesse eG, Germany. Kids India is being organized by Spielwarenmesse India Pvt. Ltd. – the recently founded Indian subsidiary of Spielwarenmesse eG, organizer of the world’s largest toy fair that takes place in Nuremberg, Germany. The fair is supported by IGCC (Indo-German Chamber of Commerce), SGEPC (Sports Goods Export Promotion Council) and TAITMA (The All India Toy Manufacturers’ Association).

“The fair generated an excellent interest from toy manufacturer’s right from the announcement of the show. With its first 3 editions,‘Kids India’ has established itself as the one stop event for the children’s products industry in India. The last edition in 2015 edition was a huge success with participation of 150 companies spread over 8,500 m² area and 6,100 trade visitors. Participating companies included all key players from the industry including Chicco, Frank Educational Aids, Funskool, Simba Toys, etc.”, adds Katharina Janotta, Managing Director, Spielwarenmesse India Pvt. Ltd.

Katharina Janotta explains, “The extra area will enable us to offer all our exhibitors sufficient space for their product presentations, whilst accommodating new features such as special shows that provide our audience with extra added value.” One such feature is the Back-to-School Area which celebrates its debut this year. This special zone invites manufacturers from the school requisites and stationery fields to showcase their products such as school bags, pencil cases and writing utensils.

Also, taking place along with the show is ‘Value of Play’ - an awareness campaign that was launched in 2013 with the aim of promoting the importance & benefits of play in India. We conducted a panel discussion on the role of toys in the overall development of children where panelists from varied backgrounds shared their perspective on this topic. Besides this the participating companies donated their toys to charitable organizations at the end of the show.

Over a short span of three years the international trade fair has established itself as a target date in the annual planning of all who are in the business of children’s products. Many of the exhibitors have been appearing at the event since the start, among them companies such as Brightway Exports International (Speed Up), Chirantan Enterprises, G. B. Sports, Innisfree Education, Jasco Handicrafts Pvt. Ltd., Pegasus Toy-Kraft Pvt Ltd., Playmate Toys, Prem Ratna, Rupratna Marketing and Vardhaman I.Q. Toys Pvt. Ltd.

Boasting a population of approximately 1.3 bn, India ranks among the most important growth markets in the world. The second largest nation on the planet has a very young demographic with 47 % of the Indian population under the age of 25 and is therefore also seen as a rapidly growing market for the consumption of toys in the coming years. In addition to that with rising wages in China, the toy manufacturers are looking at India for producing toys.

“The Indian Government’s support to boost the Toy Industry in India is commendable. The  “International Buyers Program” wherein the Indian government  is providing reimbursement of travel expenses to international buyers, who visit Kids India, through the Sports Goods Export Promotion Council (SGEPC) will go a long way to encourage more international buyers to come to India and thus help to boost exports. We expect more buyers to attend attend the fair this year especially from the neighbouring countries such as Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal and also from Australia and Africa region," says Mr. Tarun Dewan, Executive Director, SGEPC.