Food processing is the fifth largest sector of India’s economy that constitutes 65% of the national retail market, and 13% of GDP.
Endowed with a large crop base and intensifying demand, the Indian Food Processing industry presents a landscape of vast opportunities for agro-processing activities. The sector is expected to grow over US$ 500 billion, attract US$ 33 billion in investments and generate employment for 9 million people by 2025.
The dairy and food processing industry accounts for 13% of India’s exports, 6% of total industrial investment, 8.80% of manufacturing and 8.39% of agriculture sectors. The industry employs 1.85 million people in its 39,748 registered units with fixed capital of US$ 32.75 billion and an aggregate output of US$ 158.69 billion.
The Indian food retail market caters to an enormous 1.3 billion consumers with an increasing demand for branded food. The Indian gourmet food market is currently valued at US$ 1.3 billion and is growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20%. Amongst the top sustainability practices being embraced in the Indian industry, India’s organic food market growth was estimated to be 200% by 2020.
On the animal husbandry front, India is home to the world’s largest population of livestock. 2017- 2018 saw the production of 7.4 million tons of meat and 95.2 billion units of eggs. India exported poultry products worth US$ 4.1 billion in 2016-17. In May 2020, the government announced the launch of an animal husbandry infrastructure development fund of US$ 2.13 billion.
The Government of India launched the National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) in September 2019. Tasked with the mission of eradicating brucellosis and foot and mouth disease (FMD) in livestock, US$ 1.89 billion was allocated to the scheme in May 2020.
In the domain of pisciculture, India is the second largest fish producer in the world, with a total production of 12 million tons each year. Endowed with abundant geographical resources suited for both marine and inland fisheries, a 7517 km long coastline and abundant inland water sources, the Indian fish products export market is currently valued at US$ 4.7 billion. Marine products are exported through 30 different ports across the country. During 2019-20 India shipped 12.89 million tons of seafood worth US$ 6.68 billion.
