SOFT TARGETS

If street foods are discouraged without providing cheap, healthy alternatives in the same spaces, the consumer will simply pivot to cheap packaged junk, often worse in nutritional value and more additive - a bigger health crisis

- Shivaji Sarkar

India's fight against obesity may soon come with a public notice—stuck next to your favourite samosa stall or jalebi counter. The Union Health Ministry wants central government offices to install 'oil and sugar boards' — warning staffers of the health hazards of deep fried and sugary indulgences. The noble intent? Encouraging healthy eating. The unintended fallout? A direct blow to an informal food economy that feeds both bodies and bank accounts across the country.

This isn't just a cultural shift — it's an economic tremor. And one that could quietly destabilise the ₹3 to 5 lakh crore unorganised food sector that runs on the backs of Bhantis, Halwais, Mayaras, Mithaiwalas and Modaks — names that don’t appear in the NITI Aayog charts, but feed crores of households. In 2023, the Indian packaged sweets market of rosogolla, laddoo, barfi of some large confectioners in IMARC study was valued at ₹6,229.7 crore, and it's projected to reach ₹25,970.8 crore by 2032, with a CAGR of 16.67%.

This sprawling informal economy is largely unregulated, yes — but it is also ethical, preservative-free, hyper-local, and affordable. From Delhi's Sarojini Nagar to Patna’s Gandhi Maidan, Allahabad’s Loknath, Lucknow’s Hazratganj, Kerala’s beaches or Kolkata’s Garer Maath, India sells an estimated 6 crore samosas daily, may be more. If you add the allied universe of pakoras, vadapavs, Jaipur pyajkachori, jalebis and other mithais, the numbers multiply — as does their economic gravity. Each samosa, different in every city, represents a supply chain: wheat farmer to flour miller, the aloo vendor, the masala mixer, the oil refiner, the street hawker, and finally the hungry buyer.