Vision 2015 document on Food Processing Industries and Future Prospects of the Food Processing Industry

A vision, strategy and action plan has been finalized for giving boost to growth of food processing sector. The Vision 2015 adopted by the Ministry of Food Processing aims to achieve the following:

♤ Trebling the size of the processed food sector

♤ Increasing level of processing of perishables from 6 % to 20 %.

♤ Value addition to increase from 20 % to 35%

♤ Share in global food trade to increase from 1.5 % to 3%

♤ The level of processing for fruits and vegetables is envisaged to increase to 15% in 2015

♤ The Cabinet has also approved the integrated strategy for promotion of agri business and vision, strategy and action plan for the Food Processing Sector.

Indian food-processing industry is poised for explosive growth driven by changing demographics, growing population and rapid urbanization along with increased government support. These factors will increase the demand for value added products and thus improve the prospects of food-processing industry in India.

The government’s focus towards food processing industry as a priority sector will ensure policies to support investment in this sector and attract more FDI. India with its vast pool of natural resources and growing technical knowledge base has strong comparative advantages over other nations. According to CII has estimates, food-processing sector has the potential of attracting US $33 billion of investment in 10 years and generate employment of 9 million person-days. The food processing sector in India is clearly an attractive sector for investment and offers significant growth potential to investors.