The domestic food market is projected to grow by over 47 per cent between 2022 and 2027, reaching $1,274 billion, according to B Thiagarajan, Chairman of CII Foodpro Expo 2024 and Managing Director of Blue Star Ltd.

“In terms of employment, the sector employs nearly 2 million workers across approximately 41,500 registered units. With a market size of $866 billion in 2022, the food industry is set to play a pivotal role in the economy’s growth,” he said, discussing CII’s upcoming event ‘Foodpro 2024’ in Chennai.

The food processing sector in India has been growing at an average annual rate of 5.35 per cent from 2015-16 to 2022-23. In 2022-23, the sector contributed 7.66 per cent to the GVA in manufacturing at 2011-12 prices.

“Currently, India is the largest producer of milk, pulses, banana, mango, pomegranate, papaya, lemon, okra, ginger, and non-food crops like cotton and jute.

It is the second-largest producer of rice, wheat, fruits and vegetables, and tea, and one of the leading producers of eggs and meat globally.

In 2023-24, India produced 304.4 million tonnes of cereals, 296 million tonnes of pulses, 351.9 million tonnes of horticulture products, 230.6 million tonnes of milk, and 138.4 billion eggs,” stated Srivats Ram, Chairman of CII Tamil Nadu and Managing Director of Wheels India Ltd.

Foodpro 2024, the 15th edition of the biennial event on Food Processing, Packaging & Food Technology, will be held from August 9-11, 2024, at the Chennai Trade Centre under the theme “Accelerating Growth Scale for Food Industries.” The Government of Tamil Nadu is the Host State for Foodpro 2024.

The three-day exhibition will feature over 250 domestic and international exhibitors, sectoral conferences, B2B meetings, product launches, and presentations, and is expected to attract around 25,000 visitors and traders.

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