Food Processing

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, RTE/RTC, mozzarella cheese, processed marine products, edible oils, beverages, and dairy products.

Under PMKSY the projects sanctioned under various schemes as on date (30.09.2023) include, 41 Mega Food Parks, 371 Cold Chain projects, 68 Agro-Processing Clusters, 474 proposals under Creation/Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities (CEFPPC), 61 Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages Projects, 46 Operation Green projects, 186 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 2022-23 is 230.58 MT. In the year 2022-23, the milk production has registered an annual growth rate of 3.83%
• In 2022-23, the total egg production in the country is 138.38 Bn which have increased by 6.77% as compared to the previous year
• The fish production in 2022-23 is was recorded at 17.54 MT .
• 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 achieved an all-time high exports of seafood both in terms of volume and value by shipping 1.73 Mn MT of seafood worth $8.09 Bn during FY 2022-23
• 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 $3.39 Mn in FY 2022-23 as per APEDA
• The total meat production in the country is 9.77 MT for the year 2022-23 with an annual growth rate of 5.13%. The total five major meat producing States are Uttar Pradesh (12.20%), West Bengal (11.93%), Maharashtra (11.50%), Andhra Pradesh (11.20%), and Telangana (11.06%)
• The estimated production of rice is 135.75 MT, Wheat is 110.55 MT, and Nutri/Coarse cereals is 57.31 MT for the year 2022-23
• 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 Marine products, rice, spices, amongst others.
• 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