Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal inaugurated the Indus Food 2024 exhibition at India Exposition Mart, Greater Noida, on 8th January 2024. The exhibition is one of the largest food and beverage trade shows in the world, featuring over 1100 exhibitors from nearly 120 countries and attracting 2500 overseas buyers .
A global platform for Indian food products
Indus Food 2024 is a flagship event of the Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI), supported by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). The exhibition aims to promote value-added agricultural products from India, thereby enhancing farmers’ income and generating more employment in the food processing sector .
Shri Goyal said that Indus Food 2024 is a great opportunity for Indian food producers and exporters to showcase their quality, diversity, and innovation to a global audience. He said that India has a rich and varied food culture, with cuisines ranging from Kashmiri to Kanyakumari, and from Gujarat to Nagaland. He said that India is also a leading producer of many food commodities, such as spices, pulses, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and seafood.
The Minister said that the government is committed to supporting the food processing industry with various initiatives, such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, the Mega Food Park scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana, and the Agri Export Policy. He said that these schemes aim to create a conducive environment for investment, innovation, and infrastructure development in the food processing sector.
According to the provisional data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), India’s overall exports of agricultural and processed food products rose by 13 percent in the nine months of the current Financial Year 2022-23 (April-December) in comparison with the corresponding period of FY 2021-22. The overall export of APEDA products increased to USD 19.7 billion in April-December 2022 from USD 17.5 billion over the same period of the last fiscal.
Some of the major contributors to export growth in October 2023 include drugs and pharmaceuticals (29.31%), engineering goods (7.2%), electronic goods (28.23%), cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items (40.95%), oil seeds (29.7%), fruits and vegetables (24.48%), oil meals (17.32%), spices (10.78%), coffee (8.45%), tea (4.12%), cashew (3.29%), basmati rice (40.26%), poultry products (91.70%) and other cereals (13.64%) .
A part of India’s ambitious mega events line-up
Indus Food 2024 is also a part of India’s ambitious mega events line-up for the coming months, which includes Aatmanirbhar Bharat Utsav, Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2024, and Bharat Tex. Shri Goyal said that these events are designed to showcase India’s MSME sector, traditional handicrafts, artisanal offerings, weavers, and manufacturing prowess to the world. He said that these events are also aimed at elevating India’s position as a global economic powerhouse and a preferred destination for trade and investment .
Shri Goyal expressed his confidence that Indus Food 2024 will be a grand success and will pave the way for new business opportunities and partnerships between Indian and foreign food companies. He said that Indus Food 2024 will also contribute to India’s vision of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2025.