Toy cluster at Koppala can generate 40,000 jobs in 5 yrs: CM BSY

Bengaluru: India’s ‘first toy manufacturing cluster’ to come up at Koppal has the potential to create 40,000 jobs in five years and attract over Rs 5,000 crore investment, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said here on Sunday.

“In line with PM @narendramodi ‘s vision of #VocalForLocal & boosting toy manufacturing, Koppala will have India’s first toy manufacturing cluster. With the eco-system to support toy cluster in place, this 400 acres SEZ will have top-class infra & generate 40,000 jobs in 5 years,” Yediyurappa tweeted.

The tweet by the Chief Minister came following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme, pitching India to become the world’s toy hub.

Modi on Sunday said India has the talent and ability to become a toy hub for the entire world and called upon startups to work towards realising this potential while being “vocal about local toys.”

He said the global toy industry is over Rs seven lakh crore, but India’s share was very small, as he stressed on the need to work to increase it.

The Karnataka government is inviting global toymakers to the “first of its kind” toy manufacturing cluster in India at Koppala and had recently held a webinar cum panel discussion with a panel of leading toys manufacturers.

Karnataka is poised to emerge as a leading toy-making cluster in the country due to the robust ecosystem the state has created to support toy-making industries, the state government had recently said.

It said the State has supported and nurtured the setting up of Tool manufacturing & precision engineering, polymers manufacturing clusters at Bengaluru, Dharwad, Tumkuru and Mysuru, robust design capacity and testing certification agencies in Bengaluru, Dharwad and Koppal and GTTC (Government Tool Room & Training Centre).

With such a dedicated push by the government towards toy manufacturing, the state’s toy industry has grown at a CAGR of 18 per cent (2010-17) and is expected to reach USD 310 million by 2023, it added.

Karnataka is the third-largest market for toys in India (USD 159 million) 9.1 per cent of the national market.