WFI 2025: Taste the future

My first World Food India (WFI) as a Union minister in September 2024 was a defining experience.

- CHIRAG PASWAN

In those four days, I witnessed the entire farm-to-fork ecosystem converge: state pavilions with global buyers, FPOs and SHGs beside technology showcases, and policy dialogues alongside investment announcements. It affirmed WFI’s role as a strategic platform aligned with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji’s vision for India to become a global food basket.

That experience shaped the blueprint for 2025. Travels to food-processing units, dialogues with industry leaders, and engagements at global platforms like Gulfood and WEF strengthened my conviction that the world must see India’s agri-food diversity and capabilities as never before. We resolved to make the next edition bolder and more outcomefocused, turning innovation into investment and establishing India as a trusted global food hub.

This ambition is reinforced by policy tailwinds, most notably the next-generation GST reforms. By placing most processed food items to five or zero per cent, these reforms have created a conducive and competitive environment for the sector.

With this background, we are ready to host WFI 2025 from 25-28 September, to be inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, signalling the government's high priority for this sector. This edition will feature New Zealand and Saudi Arabia as partner countries, with Japan, the UAE, Vietnam, and Russia as focus countries. A powerful example of cooperative federalism, 21 states and union territories will enrich the event, with pavilions highlighting regional strengths. Alongside major exhibitions and B2B forums, WFI will host the 3rd