Altered Income Brackets To Increase Processed Foods Consumption

A change in the composition of income brackets will spur the trend towards greater consumption of processed food products.

A National Council of Applied&Economic Research (NCAER) survey has predicted that the number of households having an annual income of less than Rs 25,000 will drop to 15 per cent in the year 2005 from the present 54 per cent of the population.

According to Dr Rakesh Mohan, director general, NCAER, during the same period, the top-end of the market, representing an annual income above Rs 100,000, will go up from about 2.9 per cent in 1994-95 to 15 per cent of the total population.

The middle income group, representing households with an annual income between Rs 25,000 and Rs 100,000, will rise from about 43 per cent of the population to 70 per cent in the year 2005.

This, coupled with other socio-economic changes like greater urbanisation and increase in the number of working women, will imply a greater demand for processed food products.

Still, if the economy is to sustain the Ninth Plan annual growth target of seven per cent, the agricultural sectors contribution will have to be higher than the current 3.5 per cent.