Efforts are on to woo in the world?s big players to boost the local toy-making market

They usually manage to bring a smile to your tot?s face.

But toys now are doing much more by helping families below the poverty line earn a living, encouraging women?s empowerment and even growing the market in West Bengal for investment. With a little help from an institute training toy-makers.

?The Institute of Toy Making Technology (ITMT) has trained around 800 students since its inception in 2001,? says institute director Rajarshi Chakraborty. ?Most of them are women from low-income groups. We help them become self-established.?

The state-backed institute, based in Salt Lake, has Speaker Somnath Chatterjee as president and government officials from both the state and Centre as its members.

Besides Salt Lake, there are four training centres in Jadavpur, Durgapur, Haldia and Chandrakona. After training is completed at the centres, students receive certificates from the State Council of Technical Education.

They can then work at the toy-production centres in Gangtok, Kohima and Durgapur or explore self-employment options. The courses are either free ? funded by the government ? or at nominal rates.

?The toy business across the world is worth around $75 billion. While China has a market share of 55 per cent, India has a mere 0.01 per cent,? Chakraborty says. ?We are, thus, trying to create the toy-production market for big players to come in and start sourcing from India.?

If China is the biggest producer, the US is the biggest consumer of toys. ?Several foreign brands are evaluating the possibilities of licensing and original equipment manufacture here,? adds Chakraborty, who has his own toy brand called Nick Nack.

The institute is currently conducting courses on soft toys and plastic toys with the help of experts in the field. ?For soft toys, the working financial cost is greater, since the fabrics have to adhere to strict norms and are expensive. But the machines used are low-cost. In case of plastic toys, the investment on machines and moulds is more.?

The institute is in talks with Haldia Petrochemicals for creating a mould bank, through which moulds from different parts of the world can be leased to reduce costs.

The state government?s Toy Park will present more opportunities to toy-makers, hopes Chakraborty. ?There is a human resource constraint. We are trying to recruit women from the villages of West Bengal and from the Northeast, where the response has been the best so far.? Each of the production centres makes toys worth Rs 3 to 4 lakh every month, claims Chakraborty.

After toy-making, ITMT plans to introduce a course on computer games. ?It will be the first of its kind in the country, covering everything from story to graphics.?

The institute is tying up with foreign game publishers and experts for this.