September 30, 2025

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Quick Overview

World Food India (WFI) 2025, India’s flagship food processing event, has positioned the country as a “Global Food Hub” with MoUs worth over ₹1 lakh crore. The food processing sector is crucial for rural employment, MSME growth, and exports. While opportunities lie in rising urban demand, health-conscious foods, and technology adoption, challenges like infrastructure gaps, post-harvest losses, and regulatory hurdles persist. Policy measures such as cluster-based zones, tech-driven supply chains, financial reforms, and global-standard quality benchmarks can strengthen India’s role in global food markets.

🌍 World Food India 2025 – India as a Global Food Hub

World Food India (WFI), organized by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), concluded its 4th edition in 2025. Since its inception in 2017, WFI has grown into a premier platform to showcase India as the “Food Basket of the World.” This year, it attracted investment commitments worth ₹1 lakh+ crore, underlining India’s growing role in food security, innovation, and employment generation.

📈 The Landscape of India’s Food Processing Sector

  • Definition: Food processing involves transforming raw agricultural products into edible, marketable, and value-added goods.

  • Levels of Processing:

    • Primary – cleaning, grading, packaging.

    • Secondary – milling wheat into flour, etc.

    • Tertiary – ready-to-eat foods like bread, noodles, etc.

  • India’s Strengths:

    • Largest producer of milk, onions, and pulses.

    • Second largest producer of rice, wheat, sugarcane, tea, fruits, and eggs.

    • Exports: USD 49.4 bn (2024–25) with rising share of processed foods.

    • Employment: 2.23 million in registered units, 4.68 million in unregistered units.

🏛️ Government Initiatives

  1. Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLISFPI & PLISMBP) – Boost exports, encourage millet-based RTE/RTC foods.

  2. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) – Builds modern infrastructure, reduces post-harvest losses.

  3. PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) – Supports local entrepreneurship and MSMEs.

  4. 100% FDI in food processing.

  5. Mega Food Park Scheme – Integrated hubs with infrastructure support.

🚀 Opportunities vs. ⚠️ Challenges

Opportunities

  • Expanding market (USD 336 bn in 2023, set to double by 2032).

  • Rising urban demand for convenience foods (projected ₹12 lakh crore by 2025).

  • Growing health-conscious and organic food market (₹75,000 crore by 2025).

  • Tech-driven innovations: AI, robotics, smart packaging.

  • MSMEs and rural employment expansion.

Challenges

  • Infrastructure gaps leading to 30% food wastage (~₹90,000 crore annually).

  • SMEs face high costs, lack of credit access.

  • Complex regulatory framework with overlapping agencies.

  • Low global share in processed food exports (16% vs. China’s 49%).

  • Quality-related rejections in global markets.

🔑 Policy Measures to Strengthen the Sector

  • Cluster Development: Food processing zones near farms with shared logistics, cold storage, and packaging facilities.

  • Tech-Driven Supply Chains: Blockchain for traceability, IoT for monitoring, drones for crop mapping.

  • Financial Reforms: Credit schemes for SMEs, tax incentives, venture capital in food-tech.

  • Quality Standards: Harmonize with Codex, mobile labs, tiered certifications.

  • Regulatory Simplification: Single-window clearance, unified digital platform.

  • Export Ecosystem: Country-specific strategies, plug-and-play facilities, real-time global market intelligence.

  • Boost R&D: Food innovation labs, patents, traditional knowledge database.

📌 Exam Relevance

Prelims:

  • PLISFPI, PLISMBP, PMKSY, PMFME, Mega Food Parks, FDI in food processing.

  • Institutions: FSSAI, eNAM.

Mains:

  • Role in food security, farmer income, rural employment.

  • Challenges: infrastructure gaps, regulatory hurdles, global competitiveness.

  • Way forward: cluster development, tech-driven supply chains, quality alignment, R&D.

CLAT/Exam Relevance Summary (Points)

  • WFI 2025 projects India as a “Global Food Hub” with ₹1 lakh+ crore investments.

  • India: top global producer of multiple crops, exports USD 49.4 bn agri & processed foods.

  • Government schemes: PLISFPI, PLISMBP, PMKSY, PMFME, Mega Food Parks.

  • Opportunities: urban demand, health foods, MSMEs, tech adoption.

  • Challenges: wastage, regulatory hurdles, SME barriers, low export share.

  • Solutions: cluster zones, single-window clearances, Codex alignment, R&D boost.

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