India has 37,175 food processing units

The Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said that her ministry has not taken up any specific survey of food processing industries in the country. However quoting an Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) by Central Statistics Office (CSO) she said in Lok Sabha on May 6 that India has 37,175 food processing units as on 2012-13 employing 16,89,157 people.

According to that survey out of the 33 states, 12 states have over 1000 units operating in states with Andhra Pradesh having highest number of units 5,735. The next to follow in the table include Tamil Nadu (5,161), Telangana (3,716), Maharashtra (3,077), Punjab (2,792), Uttar Pradesh (2,097), Karnataka (2,038), Gujarat (1,923), West Bengal (1,624), Kerala (1,501), Assam (1,256) and Chhattisgarh (1,008).

In terms of number of persons engaged in these units Maharashtra has highest number of people with 2,17,123 engaged in 3,077 units. Similarly Tamil Nadu has 5,161 units employing 1,88,706 employees. Kerala has 1,501 processing units providing employment to 1,63,766 staff. Uttar Pradesh has 2,097 units creating job opportunities for 1,60,325 workers. Andhra Pradesh has 5,735 units providing employment to 1,44,394 people. And Karnataka has 2,038 food processing units employing 1,10,189 staff.