Background
India produces enough food to meet the needs of its population, but substantial quantities are lost across the agrifood value chain.
Food loss primarily occurs during production and supply-chain stages because of inadequate storage, drying, cooling, transportation, moisture management and processing.
Food waste occurs mainly at the retail, food-service and household stages.
Food loss also represents wasted land, water, energy, labour and other resources used to produce that food.
Reducing food loss and waste can therefore provide a triple win:
Improve food security and nutrition.
Reduce pressure on natural resources and greenhouse-gas emissions.
Improve incomes and productivity.
India's Evidence Base
National Post-Harvest Loss Surveys
India has conducted three national post-harvest loss surveys, making it distinctive internationally.
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) conducted surveys covering:
2005–07: 45 commodities
2012–14: 45 commodities
2020–22: 54 commodities
The surveys cover the supply chain from farm to retail.
Food Loss Index
The data support India's reporting under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the Food Loss Index.
However, an important data gap remains: systematic information on food waste generated at the retail, hotel and restaurant, and household levels is comparatively limited.
Major Areas of Food Loss
Losses can be reduced through improvements in:
Storage
Drying
Cooling and cold chains
Moisture management
Transportation
Food processing
Digital traceability systems.
Traceability can help track agricultural produce through the supply chain and improve management of food movement, storage and quality.
Wholesale Markets: An Overlooked Opportunity
According to assessments by the FAO and the National Council of Agricultural Marketing Boards (COSAMB):
Major wholesale markets can generate up to 100 tonnes of organic waste per day.
In some cities, around one-fifth of urban organic waste reaches landfills.
India's wholesale-market organic waste is estimated at approximately 3.5 million tonnes annually.
Potential Benefits
Organic market waste can be converted into:
Compost
Biogas
Bio-CNG
Energy
Other recovered materials.
Treatment of this waste could potentially offset approximately 3.3 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions annually, according to the estimates cited in the article.
Surat Bio-CNG Model
A 50-tonne-per-day bio-CNG plant in Surat, Gujarat, has operated through a private-sector partnership for more than five years.
The model demonstrates how:
Organic market waste → segregation → processing → biogas → bio-CNG
Can simultaneously address:
Waste management
Methane emissions
Renewable energy generation
Resource recovery.
Investment and Innovation
FAO–SIDBI Initiative
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) are working to connect identified food-loss hotspots with climate-resilient technologies.
These include:
Improved drying
Moisture control
Energy-efficient cooling
Better storage.
SIDBI can facilitate financing to help small and medium enterprises adopt such technologies.
Urban Food-Waste Management
The FAO is also developing a practical “Package of Practices” for Indian cities.
It is intended to help municipalities: Measure → Prevent → Reduce → Redistribute → Valorise food waste across:
Households
Wholesale markets
Retail
Food-service establishments.
Significance
Food Security
Reducing avoidable losses effectively increases the availability of food without necessarily requiring additional land and water for production.
Climate Change
Less food waste means lower emissions associated with production and reduced methane generation from landfilled organic waste.
Resource Conservation
Saving food also conserves the water, land, energy and other inputs embedded in its production.
Farmer and Enterprise Income
Better storage, processing and market infrastructure can reduce losses and potentially increase the quantity of produce that reaches markets and consumers.
Circular Economy
Organic residues can become compost, biogas, bio-CNG or energy, converting waste into economic value.
Challenges
Data gaps
India has relatively strong information on post-harvest losses but comparatively limited data on consumer-end food waste.
Fragmented policy approach
Food loss intersects with agriculture, food processing, urban waste management, climate policy and infrastructure, making coordination difficult.
Financing constraints
Modern storage, cooling, drying and processing technologies can involve significant upfront investment, particularly for small enterprises.
Waste segregation
Poor segregation of organic waste from other municipal waste can make composting and biogas production difficult.
Scaling pilots
Successful models such as Surat's bio-CNG facility need appropriate financing, institutional arrangements and local adaptation before they can be replicated widely.
Way Forward
Close data gaps: Extend systematic measurement to retail, hotels, restaurants and households.
Finance hotspots: Direct concessional and suitable commercial finance towards locations and commodities where losses are highest.
Strengthen infrastructure: Invest in cold chains, storage, drying, processing and moisture-control technologies.
Promote circular economy: Develop markets for compost, biogas, bio-CNG and other recovered products.
Strengthen segregation: Establish source-segregation systems in wholesale markets and urban areas.
Integrate policies: Mainstream food-loss reduction into agricultural, food-processing, urban and climate policies.
Scale proven models: Replicate successful initiatives while adapting them to local commodity and infrastructure conditions.
Conclusion
India has already made great strides by developing the required evidence base, testing technologies and proving the success of the models that can help to reduce food losses and waste. The challenge now is to transition from individual efforts to a finance-based national strategy to fight food loss and waste. Reducing food losses and waste is crucial in helping India transition to sustainable agrifood systems.
