Indo-Japanese toy company seeks government intervention over dispute with manufacturers

CHENNAI: A Chennai-based toy startup, founded by an Indian and a Japanese entrepreneur to manufacture Vande Bharat train toys domestically, has appealed to Minister for Industries S Keerthana after vendor companies refused to release their moulds worth Rs 50 lakh, stalling production for six months.

The company, Rig Wheels, is co-founded by Saravana Bhava of Madurai and Japanese national Futoshi. The two, who previously ran an IT services business together, pivoted to manufacturing in 2024 with the goal of making a battery-operated toy train modelled on the Vande Bharat entirely in India- a market currently dominated by Chinese imports.

Futoshi took to Instagram, posting a reel appealing to Minister Keerthana, which brought the dispute to public attention. According to Saravana, the trouble began with the death of the Coimbatore-based fabricator who Rig Wheels had contracted to produce their tooling. Manufacturing the toy required 25 custom moulds and dies to produce its plastic, metal, and rubber components for which the company paid in full through documented bank transfers, contracting 5,000 sets.

The fabricator, who had subcontracted the dies to five vendor companies he regularly worked with, died after delivering only 200 to 250 sets.

"We made our contract with him and we paid him. We have no obligation to pay what he owes his vendors," said Saravana Bhava. "But they are saying, until you pay us, we will not release moulds and we will not produce for you."

Rig Wheels say they had since then approached the police, but the vendors submitted a written statement maintaining their position and the matter went no further. A court case was filed but has since been dismissed. Guidance Tamil Nadu, the State's investment facilitation body, was also approached given the foreign investment angle, but termed it an internal dispute between companies.

Saravana Bhava said he has resisted pressure to shift operations to Japan, where Futoshi is based, and wants to continue manufacturing in India. "The government is pushing Make in India. We are the Make in India company. They have to incentivise us. On the contrary, we are suffering," he noted.