Scope and significance of Food processing in India
The Indian food industry is poised for huge growth, increasing its contribution to world food trade every year.
In India, the food sector has emerged as a high-growth and high-profit sector due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry
Market Size
The Indian food and grocery market is the world’s sixth largest, with retail contributing 70 per cent of the sales.
The Indian food processing industry accounts for 32% of the country’s total food market, one of the largest industries in India and is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth.
It contributes around 8.80 and 8.39% of Gross Value Added (GVA) in Manufacturing and Agriculture respectively, 13% of India’s exports and 6% of total industrial investment.
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 per cent
The food processing Industry is significant in India, for the following reasons:
Enhance farmer’s income by better utilization and value addition of agricultural produce
Minimize wastage at all stages in the food processing chain by the development of infrastructure for storage, transportation and processing of agro-food produce
Introduce of modern technology into the food processing industries from both domestic and external sources;
Encouraging R&D in food processing for product and process development and improved packaging
Provide policy support, and support for creation of Infrastructure, capacity expansion/ Upgradation and other supportive measures form the growth of this sectors
Promote export of processed food products
Generate Employment : It provides direct and indirect employment opportunities, because it acts as a bridge between Agriculture and Manufacturing
Reduce malnutrition: Processed foods when fortified with vitamins and minerals can reduce the nutritional gap in the population
Crop-diversification: Food processing will require different types of inputs thus creating an incentive for the farmer to grow and diversify crops
