Union Minister of Food Processing Industry inaugurates India Pavillion at Dubai

Dubai: India Pavilion’ at Gulfood, Dubai was inaugurated by Shri Pashupati Kumar Paras, Minister of Food Processing Industries, Government of India in the presence of Shri Sunjay Sudhir, Ambassador of India to the UAE on February 20th.

‘India Pavilion’ is the largest pavilion at the Gulfood 2023.  306 companies, comprising of leading players, SMEs and Startups are participating under one umbrella at ‘India Pavilion’.

The Indian companies are exhibiting in all segments of the Gulfood viz. Beverages, Pulses, Grains, Cereals, World Food, Meat and Poultry, Dairy, Fats & Oils, etc.  The leading Indian companies participating include Amul, MDH, Parle, Rasna, Bikanerwala, Bikaji, Everest Foods, Markfed, Safal and Lal Quilla.

Speaking on the occasion the Minster mentioned that India is the 2nd largest producer of fruits & vegetables, rice, fish and tea, Ranks 1st in terms of production of milk, millets, spices, pulses. India has Agri Exports worth USD 46.1 Bn and 23 Operational Mega Food Parks and 12 Agro-Processing Clusters. 

He also mentioned that, inrecent years, there has been renewed interest in millets in India due to their nutritional value and sustainability. Millets are considered to be a climate-resilient crop that requires less water and fertilizer than many other crops. They are also more tolerant of pests and diseases, which reduces the need for pesticides.

The Indian government has been promoting the cultivation of millets as part of its efforts to increase food security and promote sustainable agriculture. The government has launched several initiatives to support millet farmers and to promote the consumption of millets. These initiatives include subsidies for millet



cultivation, research and development programs, and campaigns to raise awareness about the nutritional benefits of millets.

Besides robust industry participation, the high level delegation led by Shri Pashupati Kumar Paras, Minister of Food Processing Industries, Government of India will have high-level business engagements during the Gulfood.  

A senior level delegation from Ministry of Agriculture is also attending the event.

Besides senior delegations from food agencies, State governments and other Government food bodies are also participating in the Gulfood (Govt of UP, Govt. of Punjab, Govt. of Maharashtra, APEDA, MPEDA, ASSOCHAM, All India Rice Association).

At ‘India Pavilion’, Special promotion and branding of Millets superfoods will be undertaken as UN is celebrating International Year of Millets 2023.  Freshly cooked Millets meals will be served at ‘India Pavilion’ on all five days.  Moreover, on February 22, there will be a special session on ‘Food Diversity and Food Security’ focussed on inclusion of Millets in the World food basket.

APEDA will be signing an MoU with Lulu Group International for in-store promotion of Millets in their supermarkets in the UAE and in the region.

Post CEPA, India’s exports of food and agri products to UAE have increased by 23.68% in the first eight months from April – November 2022 to USD 1998.88 million from USD 1616.19 during the same period previous year.

India’s exports in this sector are poised to grow further as both countries are working to further strengthen their cooperation in food security, including under the I2U2 umbrella.