India has a large share of the world’s arable land – about 14 percent – and it is one of the biggest growers of wheat, dry beans and other staples. Yet its share of processed‑food exports is less than 2 percent of the global market, a gap that the study estimates could cost the country as much as $110 billion annually.
The research, presented at the India Policy Forum in 2026, shows that India’s processed wheat exports (flour, pasta, couscous) are only 2.5 percent of world exports, despite the country producing 14 percent of global wheat. In a similar way, India’s 27.4 percent share of dry‑bean production translates into barely 0.5 percent of canned and frozen bean exports.
Processed food is a massive market. Between 2021 and 2024, global exports of processed food averaged $1.2 trillion, with plant‑based processed foods alone worth $700 billion – larger than the $489 billion apparel export market.
The study argues that food processing could link India’s agricultural strength to manufacturing, creating formal factory jobs, raising farm incomes and absorbing surplus labor from the countryside.
Workers in India’s formal food‑processing factories earn about Rs 1.4 lakh per year, nearly four times the average income of smallholder farming households in eastern India.
Why is India’s export performance weak? The paper points to several bottlenecks: low farm and processing productivity, fragmented supply chains, a preponderance of small‑scale factories, high electricity costs, weak quality‑control and traceability, and an unpredictable trade policy.
Other nations have turned these challenges into strengths. China leads global exports of processed vegetables and tomatoes, Vietnam dominates cashew processing, and Brazil has a world‑class orange‑juice industry.
To close the gap, India must shift from merely increasing crop yields to building integrated farm‑to‑export value chains. This would involve linking processors directly with farmers, expanding access to finance, improving logistics and affordable power, tightening quality standards, and ensuring predictable trade rules.
By investing in these areas, India could unlock a sector that is comparable in size to apparel and could provide millions of formal jobs while boosting the incomes of small farmers.