For American brands worried about China, Is India the future?
India vs South Africa T20 World Cup Final Live Score
India vs SA Final T20 Final Weather Forecast
India vs SA Final Pitch Report
It was February 2021, and the world was besieged by a pandemic. Lockdowns disrupted Chinese factories. Trade hostilities between Washington and Beijing were undermining the benefits of depending on plants in China. President Donald Trump had slapped tariffs on a broad variety of Chinese imports, increasing their prices, and President Joe Biden extended that policy.
Melissa & Doug was eager to shift some production to other countries. Which explained the arrival of its chief supply chain officer at a factory in Greater Noida, a fast-growing city about 30 miles southeast of the Indian capital, New Delhi.
The factory was owned by a family business called Sunlord. The Melissa & Doug executive was surprised to see that the plant could make high-quality wooden toys, at prices comparable to those in China. Late last year, Sunlord completed its first batch of products for Melissa & Doug, a modest order of about 10,000 items, and now is cranking out 25,000 per month.
«What they want is 20 to 30% of their production being done in India,» said Sunlord's director, Amitabh Kharbanda. «India has a lot of positive vibes right now.»
In a global marketplace reshaped by volatile forces — not least the animosity between the United States and China — India shows signs of emerging as a potentially significant place to manufacture products. Multinational brands that have for decades
