Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid emphasis on the importance of India developing
its toy industry, saying that it was time we went “vocal for local” in the production of toys.  

Speaking during his 68th Mann ki Baat program, the prime
minister said that India has a very insignificant share in the global toy
industry, which he said was worth more than Rs 7 lakh crore.

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He said
that a country with such a rich culture, heritage and large youth populace should
be more prominent in the toy industry.

“There has
been a rich tradition of local toys in our country. There are many talented and
skilled artisans who possess expertise in making good toys,” he said.

He further
highlighted that India has a number of ‘toy clusters’ which are traditional
hubs for manufacturing toys, like Channapatna in Karnataka’s Ramnagaram,
Kondaplli in Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna Andhra Pradesh, Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu,
Dhubri in Assam and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

PM Modi
said that toy manufacturing could become an avenue for Indians to become
self-reliant and promote the culture of “vocal for local”. 

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“We should make toys that not only brings joy to children but are also not harmful for the environment,” the prime minister said. 

He also urged India’s youth to draw ideas from the country’s rich culture and storied past to develop video games. 

“There is an abundance of ideas and concepts in India, our history is very vibrant. I call on the country’s talented youth to make games on India in India.”