Gujarat participated in World Food India as a partner state

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the mega food event ‘World Food India 2023’ that is happening at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. The three-day event will be held at Bharat Mandapam at Pragati Maidan. Over 1200 exhibitors and participants from over 80 countries will participate in it. The theme for the event this year is 'Processing For Prosperity'.

Gujarat, as a state renowned for its investor's friendly policies in the food processing and Agro sector participated in World Food India as a partner state. On the first day, the state organized a knowledge session on the theme: Food Processing – A Sun Rise Sector of Amrit Kaal, which was followed by an elaborate exhibition with food samples and insights of the sector. The partner state exhibition and knowledge session has been organized by Indext-A, which is a dedicated cell of the Government of Gujarat to foster investments in the Agribusiness sector of Gujarat, under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture.

The knowledge session was inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Cow Breeding and Fisheries, Government of Gujarat, Shri Raghavji Patel. During his address, he said, "Gujarat's food processing sector has seen a notable upward trend in recent years and has attracted investors due to climate, connectivity and ease of doing business. The state shall look forward to hosting you at Gujarat Pavilion." Prior to it, he attended the Prime Minister’s session and did an inauguration of the stall.

In the flow of events, opening remarks were delivered by A K Rakesh, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture, Farmer Welfare and Cooperation Dept., Government of Gujarat. He shared that “Gujarat's notable strength in the dairy sector includes. its extensive network of milk cooperatives, 18,000 village-level milk societies and 3.6 million milk producer members. Gujarat has been ranked the 4th largest milk-producing state in India."

The session showed a presentation from Secretary, APEDA, Dr. Sudhanshu spoke about Exports of Processed Foods from Gujarat: “A Cluster Approach.”

It was followed by an insight from Amaan Khan, brand vice president, HUL on New Vistas of Food Processing Sector in New India. He said “Peanut butter has seen enormous growth in India. It is a #3000 cr category. It is a rapidly growing category and also the most affordable category and Gujarat accounts for 44 percent of peanut butter production in India.”

Pranav Doshi, director, Gujarat Mega Food Park, spoke on “Enabling Ecosystem for Food Processing Sector in Gujarat.” During his presentation, he said “Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation (GAIC), promotes agricultural activities at the ground level and has helped create many facilities for post-harvest management such as the integrated pack house, Gamma radiation facility, and centre for perishable at Ahmedabad among others.”

The audience were invited to the pre-vibrant summit on 7 December, 2023 in Amul Auditorium, Anand, Gujarat. The theme of the event is based on the theme of “Leveraging Infrastructure Strengths of Gujarat for Agro and Food Sector” and it is a prelude to upcoming Vibrant Gujarat.

The next two days, Indext-A shall be focusing on B2G discussions and sharing invested related opportunities at Hall number 6.