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Non-alcoholic beverage processing will not only help reduce fruit wastage in the supply chain but also enable the doubling of farmers' income, create jobs, and enhance investment in manufacturing, a report released on Friday said.

The report 'Contribution of Non-Alcoholic Beverages Sector in Indian Economic Growth and #AtmanirbharBharat' was released by Sudhanshu Pandey, secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), at an event organised by the Indian Beverage Association.

The objective of the report is to understand the contribution of the non-alcoholic beverages sector towards the Indian economy, examine the strengths and best practices, identify challenges and suggest a way forward to make India one of the world's leading beverage processing hub as the country sets its vision for Amrit Kaal, i.e., for India @2047.

The report pointed out India's position on both supply and demand side. On the supply side, India is the largest global producer of several raw materials such as banana, mango, lime, lemon, papaya, milk and sugar used in manufacturing non-alcoholic beverages while on the demand side, with a large middle-class and young consumers who are willing to experiment with different products, India is an attractive investment destination for beverage companies, it said.

Around 62 per cent of farmers received high yielding plant material from the companies but still mentioned that the other key areas of support that they needed included technology and equipment for drip irrigation farmers identified the need for government support in three areas -- financial assistance, training and knowledge enhancement and logistics and transportation.

"Private partnership can play a major role in training, increasing productivity and improving infrastructure," the report said.

The report also highlighted that by product categories, in 2020, in fruit and vegetable juices, India ranked 59th among global exporters while Brazil ranked first; in natural or artificial mineral waters and aerated waters (HS code 2201), India ranked 65th while France is the topmost exporter followed by China.

"Thus, in spite of being the topmost producer of many raw materials, India is a small player in global trade," it added.