Mumbai: Select agri and agri-based commodities like meat, milk and fruits, among others, present export opportunity worth over $97 billion (about Rs 6.9 lakh crore) for India, as per data from the Food & Agriculture Organisation.
India’s export share in agri items such as bananas, oranges, chicken, meat, and milk products like cheese and butter milk is miniscule at present, the data showed.
The country’s share in the global market for 19 commodities was a miniscule 1.5 per cent, or around $1.5 billion (about Rs 10,650 crore), in 2017 against a potential of $97 billion, the World Trade Centre said in a statement on Thursday quoting the FAO data released recently.
While global market for meat and chicken is a whopping $20.6 billion, the country’s export share is only 4.04 per cent of this. Similarly, global market for bananas is close to$15 billion wherein India’s share is a paltry $480 million, the statement said. Butter and cow milk provide a $8 billion opportunity, while India does not get a single penny from their exports, it said.
The country earns $275 million annually from export of grapes, while the global market is worth $8.6 billion. Significantly, food waste is a $11 billion market, but India earns nothing from its export. It can be noted that nearly a third of Indian farm produce is wasted due to lack storage/proper transport facilities, it added. The global onion export market is over $3 billion, but India earns just $420 million from exports.