‘Make in India’ Policy: Prospects for Food Processing Industries

This paper has described the prospects for Indian food processing sector which has emerged as an important segment of Indian agriculture. The paper reveals that abundant supply of raw materials, increase in demand and incentives offered by the government have affected the food processing sector positively. The sector has seen significant growth and changes over the past few years, driven by changing trends in markets, consumer segments and regulations. The present trends, such as changing demographics, growing population and rapid urbanization, are expected to continue in the future and therefore will shape the demand for value-added products and thus, for food processing industry in India. The paper says that considerable investments are required in rural infrastructure and components of the supply chain, which may not come from public investment alone, but require private investment. “Make in India” programme aims to attract large-scale FDI in sectors like FPIs. India, having access to vast pool of natural resources and growing technical knowledge base, has strong comparative advantages over other nations in this industry. The food processing sector in India is clearly an attractive sector for investment and offers significant growth potential to investors.