+7% annual growth of India fresh produce market

In global comparison, India surpasses China as #1 fresh produce market, estimated about US$126bn in 2025. Average per Kapita revenues represent about US$86.70. The per Kapita consumption is expected to rise to 84.83bn kg by 2029. The Fresh Fruits market is expected to show a volume growth of 4.8% in 2026.

The most diverse climate and variety offering

India is the largest producer of fruits in the world and is known as the “fruit basket”. The major grown varieties are mangoes, grapes, apples, apricots, oranges, fresh banana, avocados, guava, litchi, papaya, sapota and watermelons. India grows a large number of vegetables from moderate temperate to humid tropics, from sea level to the snowline. Vegetables are known to be the cheapest source of natural beneficial ingredients. Most of the vegetables being short-duration crops fit very well in the intensive cropping system and are capable of giving very high yields with very high economic returns to the growers. Major vegetables grown in India are potato, onion, tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, beans, eggplants, cucumber and gherkin, frozen peas, garlic and okra.

327 million tons of production

As per the National Horticulture Board, during FY24, India produced 112,62 million tons of fruit and 205 million tons of fresh vegetables, over 18 million hectares of cultivated area. According to FAO (2022), India is the largest producer of onions, ginger and okra among vegetables and ranks second in the production of potatoes, cauliflowers, brinjal, cabbages, etc. Amongst fruits, the country ranks first in the production of bananas (25.56%), mangoes (including mangosteens and guavas) (44.46%) and papayas (38.64%).

US$ 1,8 billion of exports, cold chain largely improving

The vast production base offers India tremendous opportunities for export. During 2023-24, India exported fresh fruits and vegetables 1814.58 USD millions. Grapes, pomegranates, mangoes, bananas, and oranges account for the larger portion of fruits exported from the country while onions, mixed vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, and green chilly contribute largely to the vegetable export basket. Bangladesh, UAE, Netherland, Nepal, Malaysia, Iraq, U.K, Sri Lanka, Iran, Oman and Saudi Arabia are the main destinations. Though India's share in the global market is nearly 1% only, there is increasing acceptance of Indian produce and concurrent developments of modern cold chain infrastructure and quality assurance measures, with the support of the government agency APEDA.

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