Centre plans licence regime for toy imports may start in a phased manner in its bid to make India “Aatmanirbhar” or self reliant in the toy sector

NEW DELHI: In line with its ambitious plan to make India a toy hub and self-reliant in the segment, the Union government is likely to go a step forward and impose further non-tariff barriers on toy imports. Official sources said that the licence regime for toy imports may start in a phased manner, starting March next year or early FY22. This will be a follow up of quality control order issued for the industry recently.

The first priority for the government in its bid to make India “Aatmanirbhar” or self reliant in the toy sector, however, is to make the domestic industry achieve high quality standards, people in the know said. So, although further non-tariff barriers are on the anvil, the Centre does not want to rush in before the quality control order of the government comes into effect in January and the industry is well in compliance with the norms. Earlier this month, the timeline was extended for the domestic toy manufacturers to comply with the new standards till January 1.

In a recent meeting, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal took stock of developments on this front along with the required action plan for the future, sources said. The ministry has identified toys among several categories of non-essential imports, where restrictions could be considered. In recent months, the Commerce Ministry has resorted to the use of import restrictions instead of free imports to boost domestic manufacturing.

Noting that the global toy industry is worth over Rs 7 lakh crore but that India’s share is very small in the sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his monthly radio broadcast ‘Mann Ki Baat’ last month gave a clarion call to be “vocal for local toys”, stressing on the need for making the country a toy hub (AGENCIES)