India’s domestic food market is on track to reach USD 1,274 billion by 2027, marking a substantial growth of 47% from 2022 levels, according to industry projections. This expansion is driven by a robust food processing sector and rising consumer demand.
Thiagarajan, Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Foodpro Expo 2024 and Managing Director of Blue Star Ltd., highlighted that the food processing sector has been growing at an annual rate of 5.35% from 2015–16 to 2022–23. “In 2022–23, the sector contributed 7.66% to the Gross Value Added (GVA) in manufacturing at 2011–12 prices,” Thiagarajan noted in a press release on Thursday.
The sector also plays a significant role in employment, with nearly 2 million workers employed across 41,500 registered units. With a market size of USD 866 billion in 2022, the food industry is poised to be a key driver of economic growth.
CII Tamil Nadu Chairman Srivats Ram pointed out that India currently leads globally in the production of milk, pulses, bananas, mangoes, pomegranates, papayas, lemons, cotton, and jute. During 2023–24, India produced 304.4 million tonnes of cereals, 296 million tonnes of pulses, 351.9 million tonnes of horticultural products, 230.6 million tonnes of milk, and 138.4 billion eggs.
The announcement of these projections coincides with the 15th edition of the biennial Foodpro event, scheduled to take place on August 9 at the Chennai Trade Centre. The event, themed “Accelerating Growth Scale for Food Industries,” will focus on food processing, packaging, and technology. Tamil Nadu is the host state for Foodpro 2024.
Over the three-day event, more than 250 domestic and international exhibitors, sectoral conferences, B2B meetings, product launches, and approximately 25,000 visitors and traders are expected to participate. “CII Foodpro is an ideal platform for stakeholders in this sector to showcase their products, technologies, and the latest trends, as well as to discuss the challenges and opportunities for sector development,” added Ram.