August 30, 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, during his monthly "Mann ki Baat" radio programme, talked about making 'toys for the world' and highlighted the ability of India to become a 'toy hub'.

"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. Toys are very important for the development of children. Even Rabindranath Tagore has spoken about the importance of toys. India has the talent and the ability to become a toy hub by making toys for the entire world," the Prime Minister said.

"You will be surprised to know that the global toy industry is over Rs 7 lakh crores. However, India's share in the global industry is very small. It is not right for us to have such a small share, we have to work towards improving this. I urge our start-ups to 'Team up for Toys', this also matches our call for Vocal for Local," he said.

The Prime Minister also talked about developing toy clusters in India to make the nation a toy hub. "Some parts of India developing also as toy clusters, that is, as centres of toys, like Channapatna in Ramnagaram (Karnataka), Kondaplli in Krishna (Andhra Pradesh), Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, Dhubri in Assam and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. There are many such places and we can count many names," he said.