BIS-compliant toys may get Rs 3,500-cr PLI benefits

NEW DELHI: The government is working to extend Rs 3,500 crore worth of production linked incentive benefits to toys, which are compliant with the norms of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), with an aim to make domestic manufacturing globally competitive, attracting investments and enhancing exports, an official said.

The official said the measures announced by the government for the toys industry like introduction of quality control orders and increasing customs duties from 20 per cent to 60 per cent has helped in cutting down sub-standard imports and promoting domestic manufacturing in the country.

“Now we are working to extend PLI (production linked incentive) benefits for toys, but it will be given to BIS-compliant toys only. PLI benefits can be given according to different investment slabs which can range from Rs 25 crore to Rs 50 crore or Rs 100-200 crore,” the official added.

The proposal is to give the incentives on the full product and not on components as the industry still needs to import certain components which are key to make toys and are not manufactured in India.

BIS is the national standards body of India. It develops and publishes Indian standards, implements conformity assessment schemes, recognise and run laboratories for conformity assessment, implement hallmarking, conduct capacity building programmes on quality assurance.

India-made toys are not only supplied to global brands but they are also creating their own place in the global markets. Besides toys, the government is also looking at extending these benefits to other sectors such as bicycle, footwear, some vaccine materials, shipping containers, and certain telecom products.

Little Genius Toys Pvt Ltd CEO Naresh Kumar Gautam has earlier said although support measures announced by the government are helping the industry, the PLI scheme and a council would give further impetus as it holds huge potential for creation of jobs. The government is considering proposals to extend the Rs 35,000-crore PLI scheme to different sectors including toys.

Inter-ministerial discussions are underway on these different proposals. The Centre has already rolled out the scheme with an outlay of about Rs 2 lakh crore for as many as 14 sectors, including automobiles and auto components, white goods, pharma, textiles, food products, high efficiency solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell and speciality steel.

The objective of the scheme is to make domestic manufacturing globally competitive and create global champions in manufacturing.

The PLI scheme is also aimed at making Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attracting investment in the areas of core competency and cutting-edge technology; ensuring efficiencies; creating economies of scale; enhancing exports and making India an integral part of the global supply chain.