Achievements of the Food Processing Industries in India

The Food Processing sector in India, a sunrise sector, is poised for immense growth and greater
contribution to the world food trade. The sector has witnessed a number of initiatives undertaken
by the Government since June 2014 primarily aimed at scaling up infrastructure for storage and
transport, tackling the issue of food wastage in the country and creating value addition that will
benefit both producers and consumers in the country through facilitating domestic and foreign
investment in the sector. The growth rate of Gross Value Added (GVA) in food Processing
industries has increased from 1.91% in 2013- 14 to 5.78% in 2014-15 at constant prices.

India is the largest producer of milk and second largest producer of a variety of fruits and
vegetables in the world. However, food is being wasted at the harvest point and during
transportation. India witnesses nearly 4.6 - 15.9 % wastage in fruits and vegetables annually, due
to lack of modern harvesting technologies and cold chain infrastructure. The wastage levels in
other perishables are also significantly high; 5.2 % in inland fish, 10.5 % in marine fish, 2.7 % in
meat and 6.7 % in poultry.

To tackle this critical issue, Government is sanctioning and operationalizing more cold chain
infrastructure in the country with the objective of reducing food wastage by 50% over next 2 years.
In addition, by opening up the sector, the Government is keen to bring in advanced technology
into the supply chain thereby combating the losses incurred during the value chain.

The food industry, which was valued at USD 39.71 billion in 2013 is expected to grow at a
Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11 percent to USD 65.4 billion by 2018. The Indian
food and grocery market is the world’s sixth largest, with retail contributing 70 percent of the sales.
Food has also been one of the largest segments in India's retail sector, which was valued at USD
490 billion in 2013. The Indian food retail market is expected to reach USD 894.98 billion by
2020.
Creation of Infrastructure:

Cold Chain Infrastructure

Out of the 134 Cold Chain Projects sanctioned 88 have been operationalized. 51 Cold Chain
projects have been completed since June 2014, a 38% increase as compared to 29 projects
completed during June 2012-May 2014. This cold chain capacity expansion benefits 500 farmers
per project in fruits & vegetables and 5000 farmers per project in dairy/meat/marine. The total
capacity created in cold storage, controlled/modified atmosphere storage and deep freezer is 3.31
Lac MT based on 88 completed Cold Chain Projects since 2008.

Mega Food Parks

The Government’s Scheme for Infrastructure Development provides State-of-the-Art

infrastructure for Mega Food Parks. The scheme has a provision of Grants-in-aid @50% of the
eligible project cost in general areas and @75 % in difficult areas subject to a maximum of ₹50
crore. Government has sanctioned 42 Mega Food Parks out of which eight have been
operationalized. 6 Mega Food Parks were operationalized in between May 2014 to May 2016.
Each mega food park is expected to create direct & indirect employment to about 5,000-6,000
persons and benefit approx. 25,000-30,000 farmers. 12 Lac MT of actual processing and
preservation capacity has been created through schemes of Mega Food Parks and Cold Chain. The
value of processed and preserved produce would be ₹3000 crores.

Quality Testing- Food Labs

Along with enhancing capacity, the Government is focused on Quality Assurance in the sector.
The scheme for Quality Assurance and Codex Standards ensures safety and quality of food
products with the analysis of the samples received from food processing industries and other
stakeholders. As part of a major overhaul of the testing infrastructure, the two years since June
2014 have witnessed a 20.81% increase in the amount of funds released (INR 61.42 crores, 168
projects assisted) for setting up of Food Testing Laboratories as compared to June 2012 to May
2014 (INR 50.81 crore released, 128 projects assisted). In the past two years, 19 Labs have
obtained NABL accreditation, 11 have been newly set up,8 have been upgraded and 26 new
projects have been approved