Vadodara, Gujarat-based manufacturer, importer and supplier of arts, crafts and learning products is planning to expand and diversify its venture. The move will also bring multifarious opportunities for the toys sector in the country in terms of manufacturing and will boost the growth of the secotor.
February 20, 2020
Stone Sapphire India Pvt. Ltd., the Indian arm of Red Ridge Global, has informed about its intent of diversifying the scale of its business, by entering into the highly growing and dynamic Indian toy industry. The Gujarat-based firm will invest around Rs 400 crores by 2022 aiming to ramp up the domestic toy OEMs and to increase the scale of its business. The company manufactures and distributes arts, craft and stationery kits under the brand ”Skoodle”, and it is also a distribution partner of US toy maker Hasbro for India.
“The Indian toy market is expected to touch USD 3.3 billion by 2024. Our intention is to bring global toy brands to India at affordable rates. We will be investing around Rs 400 crore by 2022 which will be utilised for strengthening our distribution base here as well as assisting domestic toy OEMs to manufacture global toy brands in India,” Red Ridge Global CEO Vick Rana told reporters.
Started by Indian-origin founder Vickram Rana in 1998, Red Ridge Global has presence in markets in China, Canada, Malaysia and the US, and it is a manufacturing as well as a distribution partners for global toy brands.
“To push the make in India initiative, the government is likely to announce curbs on import of toys. We intend to take this initiative forward by partnering with global toy makers to have their manufacturing base in India. This will not only give kids access to global brands but will also reduce the cost by almost 30 per cent,” Rana said.
The company is also aiming for a revenue of USD 200 million (Rs 1400 crores) from its Indian operations by 2025. Stone Sapphire has its own manufacturing unit as well as warehouse facility in Vadodara and seeks to expand the warehousing capacity to 5 lakh sq ft.
“We have already invested Rs 100 crores last year to add warehousing space, increasing our distribution network to reach smaller towns as well as to partner with domestic toy makers. We already have 10 manufacturing units and we will add one every month going forward. We invest in technology and equipment to meet the global quality standards,” Rana added.
China-headquartered Red Ridge Global is seeking to persuade clients to shift their manufacturing base to India by offering to buy the entire production output and distribute the products across India and global markets.
He also exclaimed that “the Indian toy market is expected to touch USD 3.3 billion by 2024. Our intention is to bring global toy brands to India at affordable rates. We will be investing around Rs 400 crore by 2022 which will be utilised for strengthening our distribution base here as well as assisting domestic toy OEMs to manufacture global toy brands in India”.
The toy makers around the world are on a lookout for viable alternative manufacturing facilities besides China, which is getting expensive and India is certainly in the running to becoming the leading manufacturing hub with cost-effective manufacturing opportunities. The toy manufacturing industry in India is at a progressive stage and it shows promising capacity to grow in the coming years and this is certainly a welcoming move in this direction.
