World Food India 2025

• 30 Sep 2025

For Prelims: Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry , Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India ,  National Agriculture Market 

For Mains: Food Security and Value Addition, Food processing as an engine for rural employment and MSME growth.

Source: PIB

Why in News?

World Food India 2025, India’s flagship food processing event, aims to position India as a ‘Global Food Hub’. The event concluded with the signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) worth over Rs 1 lakh crore, highlighting investments, innovations, and employment generation across multiple states.

World Food India

• WFI, conceptualized by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), is India’s flagship food processing event. Since its first edition in 2017, followed by the 2nd in 2023, 3rd in 2024, and now the 4th edition in 2025.
• It has grown to showcase India as the “Food Basket of the World,” promoting investment, enhancing farm-to-fork linkages, encouraging sustainable food systems, and highlighting India’s diverse food culture.

 

What is the Landscape of the Food Processing Sector in India?

• Food Processing: It involves methods to transform raw agricultural, animal, or fish products into edible, commercially valuable finished or semi-finished products, altering their original physical properties.
• Levels of Processing:
  • Primary processing: Basic cleaning, grading, and packaging of agricultural products.
  • Secondary processing: Converting ingredients into edible products (e.g., milling wheat into flour).
  • Tertiary processing: Creating ready-to-eat foods (e.g., baking bread from flour).
• Growth of India’s Food Processing Industry:  India is largest producer of milk, onions and pulses, Second largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, tea, fruits & vegetables and eggs. 
  • India’s agricultural and processed food exports reached USD 49.4 billion in 2024–25, with processed foods contributing 20.4% (up from 13.7% in 2014–15). The sector employs 2.23 million in registered units and 4.68 million in unregistered ones.
  • Registered food business operators rose from 25 lakh to 64 lakh, supported by 24 mega food parks. 
  • Operation Greens and 225 Research and Development projects added 20 patents and 52 commercialized technologies.
• India’s Initiatives:
  • Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI) aims to boost Indian brands internationally.
  • Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Millet-based Products (PLISMBP)  encourages Ready-to-Eat (RTE) and Ready-to-Cook (RTC) millet products, promoting value addition and millet consumption.
  • Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) creates modern infrastructure, efficient supply chains, and reduces post-harvest losses.
  • PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME)  supports micro food processing units with technical, financial, and business assistance.
  • Under the Make in India campaign, the government allows 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)  in food processing.
  • The Mega Food Park Scheme provides integrated infrastructure for food processing, offering up to Rs 50 crore per project.

What are the Opportunities and Challenges in the Food Processing Sector in India?

Opportunities	Challenges
Expanding Market: The food processing sector is growing rapidly, valued at USD 336 billion in 2023 and projected to double by 2032.  This expansion creates jobs, adds value to agriculture, and strengthens India’s GDP.	Infrastructure Gaps and Post-Harvest Losses: India lacks adequate cold chains, storage, and transport facilities, leading to nearly 30% food wastage and annual post-harvest losses of around Rs. 90,000 crore.
Urbanisation: Rising urban population and busier lifestyles are pushing demand for ready-to-eat, packaged, and convenience foods, expected to cross Rs. 12 lakh crore by 2025. This opens scope for product diversification and new brands.	Technology and Finance Barriers for SMEs: Small and medium enterprises struggle with high costs of modern machinery and limited access to credit.  This reduces their productivity and weakens competitiveness against large firms.
Health, Wellness, and Organic Foods: Sustainability is driving demand for organic and plant-based products. The organic market is projected to reach Rs. 75,000 crore by 2025, with consumers increasingly willing to pay a premium.	Regulatory Labyrinth: India’s food processing sector faces complex, overlapping regulations from bodies like Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, Bureau of Indian standards (BIS), and state agencies, creating high compliance costs and uncertainty, especially for SMEs.  The absence of a single-window clearance system and frequent rule changes further hinder domestic growth and export competitiveness.
Technology and Innovation: Adoption of automation, AI, robotics, and smart packaging is transforming efficiency and quality.  This transformation in the Indian food tech market opens new avenues for global competitiveness.	Technology and Innovation: Adoption of automation, AI, robotics, and smart packaging is transforming efficiency and quality.  The Indian food tech market is expected to touch USD 30 billion by 2024, boosting competitiveness globally.
MSMEs and Rural Employment: With 63 million MSMEs contributing to 30% of GDP, schemes like PMFME promote local entrepreneurship.  This helps farmers move up the value chain and supports rural livelihoods.	Low Share in Global Processed Exports: Only 16% of India’s agri-exports are processed products, compared to 25% in the US and 49% in China. This shows India’s export potential remains underutilised. Frequent quality-related rejections hurt India’s export reputation, with the EU detecting contamination in 527 products (2024). The lack of harmonization between Indian and global standards further limits competitiveness in international markets.

What Measures can Strengthen India’s Food Processing Sector?

• Cluster Development: Set up integrated food processing zones near farm hubs with shared infrastructure (cold storage, labs, effluent plants), ancillary industries (packaging, logistics), and seamless transport links to cut costs and boost rural–urban balance.
• Tech-Driven Supply Chain: Use blockchain for traceability, IoT for real-time monitoring, AI for demand forecasting, and drones/satellite imaging for crop assessment to cut wastage and improve efficiency.
• Financial Reforms: Create sector-specific credit schemes aligned with crop cycles, a credit guarantee fund for SMEs, and tax incentives to attract private equity and venture capital in food-tech.
• Quality Standards: Harmonize Indian norms with global benchmarks (Codex), introduce tiered certifications with market benefits, deploy mobile testing labs, and link quality-based pricing to National Agriculture Market (eNAM).
• Regulatory Simplification: Establish a single-window clearance and unified digital platform  to cut delays and reduce compliance costs.
• Export Ecosystem: Develop export-specific zones with plug-and-play facilities, country-focused strategies, and a real-time market intelligence system; fully utilize PLISFPI funds to attract global majors.
• R&D Boost: Set up Food Innovation Labs, give weighted tax breaks for R&D, and build a national database of traditional food processing techniques for scaling up.

Drishti Mains Question:

Q.  The Indian food processing sector is expanding rapidly, yet its share in global processed food exports remains low. Analyse the reasons and suggest policy measures.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is World Food India (WFI) 2025?

Ans: It is MoFPI’s flagship event to project India as a Global Food Hub, attracting ₹1 lakh+ crore investments and showcasing farm-to-fork linkages.

2. Why is the food processing sector significant for India?

Ans: It ensures food security, value addition, rural employment, MSME growth, and boosts exports (USD 49.4 bn in 2024–25).

3. Which key government schemes promote food processing?

Ans: PLISFPI, PLISMBP, PMKSY, PMFME, 100% FDI in food processing, and Mega Food Parks.

4. What are the main challenges in India’s food processing industry?

Ans: Post-harvest losses (~₹90,000 crore), infrastructure gaps, credit barriers for SMEs, and low global competitiveness.

5. What measures can strengthen the sector?

Ans: Cluster-based zones, tech-driven supply chains (AI, IoT, blockchain), credit reforms, Codex-aligned quality standards, single-window clearances, and R&D boost.

UPSC Civil Services Examination Previous Year Question (PYQ)

Prelims

Q. With what purpose is the Government of India promoting the concept of “Mega Food Parks”? (2011)

1. To provide good infrastructure facilities for the food processing industry.
2. To increase the processing of perishable items and reduce wastage.
3. To provide emerging and eco-friendly food processing technologies to entrepreneurs.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Ans: (b)

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Mains

Q. What are the challenges and opportunities of the food processing sector in the country? How can the income of the farmers be substantially increased by encouraging food processing? (2020)

Q.What are the reasons for the poor acceptance of a cost-effective small processing unit? How can the food processing unit be helpful to uplift the socioeconomic status of poor farmers? (2017)