India should aim to be top agri, processed food exporter: Goyal

New Delhi: India should aspire to become a leading exporter of agricultural and processed food products, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said Tuesday.

India is the seventh-largest exporter of agricultural produce and food products globally, with annual shipments valued at around ₹5 lakh crore.

Speaking at the 40th edition of international food & hospitality fair AAHAR, Goyal said India's agriculture and food exports witnessed strong growth between 2014 and 2025.


Also Read | Defiant Iran vows to block Gulf oil until US-Israel bombing stops

"Exports of processed foods have increased fourfold, fruit and pulses exports have tripled, processed vegetable exports have quadrupled, cocoa exports have tripled and cereal exports have doubled. Rice exports alone have grown by 62% during this period," he said.

India will support other countries in their aspiration for food and nutritional security, he said.

The minister said that the nine free trade agreements (FTAs) concluded by India have opened access to 38 developed and prosperous countries, making India a "very attractive investment destination".

"We are now finalising an agreement with Canada. We have just launched discussions with the six-nation GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council)...in the Middle East," the minister said, adding that these agreements provide "huge opportunities for friends from the processed food and agri sector". Italy's ambassador to India, Antonio Bartoli, said reduced trade barriers under the new India-EU framework could drive mutual economic gains.

Also Read |America could be the unexpected economic winner of the Iran war

Highlighting the potential for stronger cooperation between the two countries, Bartoli said: "This is an opportunity to highlight how the new FTA will boost both trade and investment in the agro-food sector...Having India lower the trade barriers can create opportunities for more and more companies to come, sell and invest in the country."