About 12 Indian toy companies, which took part at the recently concluded world's biggest international Toy Fair - Spielwarenmesse, held in Germany, have bagged confirmed orders and serious enquiries worth $2 million, Indo German Export Project said.

The toy fair witnessed a big protest from the European non-governmental organisations against toys from India and other Asian countries, IGEP said in a statement in New Delhi.

The NGOs accused Indian and Asian companies of using the unfair un-ethical method of dumping their products in Europe and said they were not against toys from Asia, but there should be fair competition and a level playing ground.

To counter such negative publicity, Indian companies with IEGP's help immediately took corrective measures, including donating all the displayed toys to less and underprivileged children in Nuemberg, the city where the fair was held.

This fetched a big goodwill for India and convincingly showed that India is concerned about social issues, the statement added.

To offer and showcase India's strength in toys under one roof, a joint Indian participation was organised by Sports Goods Export Promotion Council and supported by IEGP.  

India's toy industry is concentrated in the region in and around Delhi and Maharashtra and comprises of 2000 units in organised and unorganised sectors with an annual turnover of $535 million.

In recent past the toy industry has shifted its focus from traditional and ethnic toys to those complying with the prevailing global standards.

IEGP said competitive prices, quality awareness, emphasis on research and development, safety standards and consistent development in design are today important features of the Indian toy industry.

These features have brought recognition in the overseas markets, it said and added, "Indian manufacturers have made their presence felt in UK, USA, Germany, South East Asia, Middle East and South Africa."

Indian industry has competitive edge in soft, stuffed and wooden toys, board games and in educational toys, it said.

On the future prospect of Indian toy industry, IGEP said, "With its underlying strength in the low cost labour with the efforts to procure the best technological inputs, the future of this industry looks very promising."

The toy market in European Union consists of about 3000 manufacturers and a large consumer base of 69 million children and Germany is one of the most important producers and buyers.

It said the traditional assortment such as board games, puzzles, dolls and construction toys is still the mainstay of sales for the industry, but electronic toys are gaining significance.