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PBFIA urged govt to establish CoEs to build plant-based food ecosystem

PBFIA urged govt to establish CoEs to build plant-based food ecosystem
Image source: pib

PBFIA urged govt to establish CoEs to build a plant-based food ecosystem

The newly created Plant-Based Food Industry Association (PBFIA) has urged the government to form centers of excellence (CoEs), accelerators to foster innovation, and tax benefits to help build the country’s plant-based food ecosystem.

A PBFIA delegation recently met with Minister of State for Food Processing Prahlad Singh Patel and proposed several initiatives, including collaborations with universities, tax exemptions for investors and entrepreneurs, reductions in GST rates, infrastructure support for food processing and cold chains, and others, to help the budding but rapidly expanding plant-based food sector.

In addition, the PBFIA desired a joint task force to coordinate amongst government ministries, departments, and organizations. Also Read | Need for revolution in ‘food processing industry’ in India through PPP mode – PM.

The delegation was led by Sanjay Sethi, Executive Director of the Plant-Based Food Industry Association, who sought the minister’s guidance and support in developing the plant-based food sector into a major industry serving both domestic and global markets. In 2025, the global plant-based food market is expected to reach $77.8 billion.

Goals for sustainability

According to PBFIA, the plant-based food business has a significant potential to address climate change, food poverty and malnutrition, and public health risk (including pandemics and antibiotic resistance) while also assisting India in meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Varun Deshpande, Managing Director of Good Food Institute India; Kartik Dixit, Founder, Evo Foods; Prateek Ghai, Founder, B Veg Foods; Pradeep Rao, Founder, Evolved Foods; Amit Bajaj, Founder, Vezley Foods; and Palak Mehta, CEO, Vegan First Media comprised the PBFIA delegation.

Also Read | Agri Minister will kick off ‘Food, Agri, livelihood’ India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

According to Sethi, the minister requested a special meeting with PBFIA to examine concerns such as cold chain logistics and daily parcel operations between key cities. Furthermore, the minister requested PBFIA’s assistance in organizing two events — one for Indian stakeholders in the plant-based ecosystem and the other with foreign participants — to explore the industry’s issues.

According to Deshpande of the Good Food Institute, the minister was pleased with his organization’s proposal to sponsor CoE at the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM).

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