India’s Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) convened a roundtable on May 14 with poultry and meat industry leaders to accelerate sector growth. The session was chaired by Secretary Avinash Joshi (Indian Administrative Service) and Joint Secretary Preet Pal Singh, and coordinated by Under Secretary (Integrated Cold Chain/Infrastructure & Processing) Ajay Raj Singh Chauhan.
The meeting aimed to identify constraints limiting the sector’s potential and to explore solutions through structured dialogue. Discussions focused on:
- Policy and institutional support required to enhance investments in the sector
- Key challenges and bottlenecks affecting the implementation of investments
- Measures to further improve the ease of doing business in India
Rising feed costs strain competitiveness
Representing poultry producers, Ricky Thaper, Joint Secretary of the Poultry Federation of India, emphasized the export potential of processed chicken if production costs become globally competitive. He noted soybean meal prices have surged to USD 0.80/kg (INR 77), and that the continuous rise in prices is creating severe pressure on poultry, dairy, aqua, and fish farmers.
He added that feed manufacturers are struggling to absorb rising costs, which have already pushed chicken prices higher. Industry representatives urged a market-linked mechanism for GM soybean meal imports to protect both livestock farmers and soybean growers.
Calls for stronger institutional support
Naveen Kumar Pasuparthy stressed that poultry, diary and aqua farming relies heavily on grains from crop farmers. Animal agriculture and processing thus deserve greater recognition. He proposed the development of more food parks dedicated to poultry, sheep, and aqua processing, alongside a reduction in vitamin import duties from 30% to 5% to ease feed costs.
Saurabh Nagpal recommended MoFPI support for awareness campaigns promoting chilled and processed chicken products. Varun Reddy suggested special schemes for large-scale processing plants requiring investments above USD 41.8 million (INR 400 crore).
Industry welcomes MoFPI initiative
Stakeholders appreciated MoFPI’s effort to engage directly with industry leaders. They noted that continued dialogue will be essential to address rising input costs, strengthen processing infrastructure, and unlock India’s export potential.