Food business investments up

Industry is currently estimated to be at Rs 150,000 cr

Investments in the Indian food processing sector has been growing at a rate of 20 per cent per annum during the past five years and the total investment in the industry at present is estimated at Rs 150,000 crore, according to S Sivakumar, group head of ITC Agri & IT Business.

Sivakumar told reporters here on Monday that the country’s agriculture and processed foods exports have also been registering an annual rate of 20 per cent and now account for 12  per cent of our total exports. In the first 10 months of 2012-13, exports from the food processing sector stood at Rs 101,504 crore.

Briefing about the third edition of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)’s Food 360 to be held in November, he pointed out that the food processing sector was growing at a much higher rate of 13 per cent per annum when conpared with the industrial growth rate of 7 per cent.

Sivakumar, who is programme chair of Food 360, said the food processing industry, which currently employs over 10 million people, was also a better employment generator when compared with other sectors like information technology.

Given this scenario, he said the two-day conference on ‘The next Wave of Opportunities’ in agribusiness and food processing would review, analyse and make predictions regarding the future of this business.

Conference general chair, J A Chowdary, said over 600 delegates from India and abroad were expected to take part in the event.

More international delegates were expected to attend the conference this year as it would coincide with the World Agricultural Forum’s biennial congress and agri-tech trade fair to be held in Hyderabad.

Saikat Datta Mazumdar of the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics said, of late, there was a marked increase in the number enquiries being received by the institute regarding how to establish food processing and agribusiness units.

Rony Anthony of KPMG said as a knowledge partner of the event, the financial advisory and auditing firm would bring out a white paper on the entire spectrum of the food processing sector.