PM Narendra Modi opens India's first toy fair

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the first India Toy Fair 2021 via video conference during which he urged the country to become 'atmanirbhar' in the toy manufacturing sector.

During the inauguration of the country's first-ever toy fair, the Prime Minister said Indian toys project the 'reuse recycle' culture that has been a part of the Indian lifestyle and asked the manufacturers to use less plastic and more recyclable material. This fair organized for the promotion of indigenous toys will last for 4 days.

"Our toys reflect reuse and recycling that has been a part of the Indian lifestyle. Most Indian toys are built out of natural and eco-friendly materials. The colours used in them are natural and safe.

"I would like to appeal to the toy manufacturers of the country to build such toys that are better both for ecology and psychology. Can we try to make minimal use of plastic in toys and use such material that can be recycled?" Modi added.

During the virtual event, Modi interacted with several toy clusters from across the country. While speaking to Karnataka's toy cluster Channapatna, which has been manufacturing toys for 200 years, Modi urged them to come up with innovative ideas to build toys for India's toy industry to grow.

The Toy fair, Modi said, will bring together stakeholders in the sector, which will add to the effort of the industry to grow. "This Fair will bring together various stakeholders associated with the sector. Through such efforts, we aim to add momentum to the efforts of toy industry to grow further," he tweeted.

Aimed at providing a platform to states to develop toys reflecting the history, culture and social milieu specific to the states and also to revive traditional and indigenous toys in the lives of children, the national toy fair claims to also boost the economy by supporting local toy industry under 'Atamnirbhar Bharat'.