India’s leading toy maker Funskool inaugurated its third manufacturing unit in the country and also the second one at the Ranipet industrial cluster here on Wednesday.

“We have set up this unit primarily to focus on export market which has witnessed a 50 per cent growth in FY19 while domestic markets are witnessing slow down,” said John Baby, CEO, Funskool (India) Ltd.

He added that the company have chosen Ranipet to take strategic advantage of its close proximity to the Chennai port, which will reduce its logistics cost.

“Exports from Goa are time consuming and involve huge logistics cost as the consignments have to be taken to Mumbai, which also happens to be a crowded port,” Baby said.

Funskool’s revenue marginally fell from ₹235 crore in FY18 to ₹225 crore in FY19 even as its export revenue increased from ₹40 crore to ₹60 crore during the comparable period.

“For the next year, we target ₹90 crore from exports and this plant is expected to contribute about ₹30 crore during the first year and ₹50 crore in the second year,” Baby said.

Built at an investment of ₹25 crore, the new facility is focussed on automation, and ergonomically designed and equipped with features such as heat resistant roof to give comfort to the workers.

“We chose Ranipet because Tamil Nadu has more skilled manpower than Goa and Chennai has the complete ecosystem required for toy manufacturing,” Baby said.

The new plant will give job opportunities to around 250 and will increase the employment strength to 500 by April next year.

“Funskool is a brand which has always been dear to MRF and this new facility has been constructed keeping in mind the growing demand in the sector,” Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, MRF Ltd.

Funskool, which manufactures toys under various brands such as Giggles, Fundough and Handycrafts, also produces toys for global brands such as Hasbro, SpinMaster. It also holds licences for board games of Disney and Nicelodeon.

“Our first sample shipment from the new plant will be to Canadian toy maker Spin Master on 25th of this month and the actual shipment will commence from June,” Baby said.

Baby also added that the company has enough space to increase capacity in Ranipet and would take a call on the expansion plans after March next year.

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