INDIA'S $2B PET FOOD INDUSTRY CALLS FOR REFORMS

Addressing regulatory gaps and high GST, Rödl & Partner Paper highlights policy support.

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Alongside World Food India 2025, organized by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Rödl & Partner released a landmark paper outlining strategic pathways to strengthen India's fast-growing pet food sector.

MoFPI and EY also co-hosted a special session on “India's Pet Food Industry: Scaling for Domestic and Global Growth” at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan.

The paper highlighted India's rapidly expanding food market with the country's pet population at an estimated 42.2 million in 2024, projected to surpass 100 million by 2035. In revenue terms, the industry was valued at $720 million in 2024 and is expected to reach $2 billion by 2035. While dog food accounts for over 85% of the market, cat food is the fastest-growing segment, and e-commerce has become a key growth enabler. Despite this momentum, the sector continues to operate under frameworks not designed for it. The paper calls for a harmonized and science-backed regulatory framework to enable trust, affordability and access. Recommendations include rationalizing GST to align pet food with essential nutrition categories, adopting BIS standards as enforceable benchmarks, creating a single-window system for compliance, expanding accredited testing infrastructure, and ensuring consistent labelling and product standards across offline and online markets.