SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure | SDG 4: Quality Education
Institutions: Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) | Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) inaugurated the Electronic Toys Lab at C-DAC, Noida, during the convocation ceremony for the second batch of 18 young engineers trained under MeitY’s Electronic Toys (E-Toys) Project. It will serve as the hands-on learning environment where young engineers spend the first six months gaining R&D experience in designing and developing electronic toys.
The C-DAC E-Toys Project is a tailored R&D initiative focused on advancing efforts to build a robust, indigenous electronic toy industry ecosystem by developing prototypes and equipping young engineers with necessary design skills. It provides a one-year training program—including a six-month hands-on R&D period in the e-Toys lab and a six-month industry placement. The program’s goal is to create electronic toy prototypes based on industry needs and foster entrepreneurship in this growing market.
The graduates of the second batch were selected from across India, including those from SC/ST and NER backgrounds, and received a monthly stipend of ₹25,000 for the year. This cohort gained hands-on experience in designing and developing electronic toys before moving on to six months of industry training to create prototypes. Shri Amitesh Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary, MeitY, emphasized the aim is to formalize and expand the program, turning the Centre of Excellence (CoE) at C-DAC into a hub that will onboard other institutions like NIELIT and MSH to support entrepreneurship and startups in electronic toy manufacturing.
Policy Relevance: The launch of the dedicated e-Toys Lab and the structured training program highlights a strategic government focus on domestic value addition and import substitution in the consumer electronics market. This move is significant from a developmental perspective, linking specialized technical skill development for under-represented communities directly to indigenous manufacturing and entrepreneurial growth.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: What specific policy or fiscal incentives will MeitY introduce to ensure the successful prototypes developed by these graduating engineers transition into commercial-scale indigenous manufacturing?
Follow the full news here: The e-Toys Lab inaugurated during the convocation ceremony of 2nd batch of 18 young engineers trained under MeitY’s Electronic Toys Project