Food & Allied Sectors

The Food Processing sector in India has a quintessential role in linking Indian farmers to consumers in the domestic and international markets. The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is making all efforts to encourage investments across the value chain. The food processing industry has a share of 12.22% (at 3-digit of NIC classification) in the employment generated in all Registered Factory sector engaging approximately 2.03 Mn people. Unregistered food processing sector supports employment to 5.1 Mn workers as per the NSSO 73rd Round report 2015-16 and constituted 14.18% of employment in the unregistered manufacturing sector. Major sectors constituting the food processing industry in India are processed fruits and vegetables, Bakery & Confectionary  processed marine products, Meat & Poulty, beverages, and dairy products.

Under PMKSY the projects sanctioned under various schemes as on date 30-06-2024  include, 41 Mega Food Parks, 399 Cold Chain projects, 76  Agro-Processing Clusters, 588 proposals under Creation/Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities (CEFPPC), 61 Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages Projects, 52 Operation Green projects, 209 Food Testing Laboratories projects have been approved across the country.

The key sub-segments of the Food Processing industry in India are Fruits & Vegetables, Poultry & Meat processing, Fisheries, Food retail, dairy industry, etc.

Key facts:

• Total horticulture production in the year 2022-23 is estimated to be 355.48 MT, an increase of about 8.30 MT (2.39%) as compared to the year 2021-22 (final)
• India ranks 1st in Milk production and the total milk production in the country during 2023-24 is 239.30 MT. In the year 2022-23, the milk production has registered an annual growth rate of 3.78%
• In 2023-24, the total egg production in the country is 142.77 Bn which have increased by 3.17% as compared to the previous year
• The fish production in 2023-24 is 17.54 MMT comprising of marine fish production of 4.43 MMT and 13.11 MMT from Aquaculture.
• Production of plantation crops is estimated to increase from 15.76 MT in 2021-22 to 16.84 MT in 2022-23, which is an increase of about 6.80%
• India’s seafood exports touched an all-time high in volume during the financial year 2023-24 despite various challenges in significant export markets. India shipped 17,81,602 MT of seafood worth $7.38 Bn during 2023-24. 
• The export of other cereals recorded a growth of 13.64% in nine months of the current fiscal
• India export of other Cereals (Excluding Rice, Wheat Maize and Millet) to the world was worth INR 604.49 Cr during the April - July 2024 as per provisional data provided by DGCIS.
• The total meat production in the country is 10.25 MT for the year 2022-23 with an annual growth rate of 4.95%. The total five major meat producing States are West Bengal (12.62%), Uttar Pradesh (12.29%), Maharashtra (11.28%), Telangana (10.85%) and Andhra Pradesh (10.41%)
• The estimated production of rice is 136.7 MT, Wheat is 112.9 MT, and Nutri/Coarse cereals is 54.7 MT for the year 2023-24.
• India’s exports of foodgrains have registered a steady growth in last few years which is reflected in the increase in India’s share in world foodgrain exports from 3.38% in 2010 to 7.79% in 2022 as per UN COMTRADE statistics. Top agricultural products exported from India include Fruits and Vegetables, Meat, dairy & poultry products, Spices.
• Non-Basmati Rice has emerged as India’s top export item among the many agricultural and processed food product exports under APEDA basket, with the export of $4,663 Mn in nine months of 2022-23