July 4, 2011

India's poultry industry set to grow further

India's domestic poultry industry is likely to continue growing throughout the decade, as demand grows steadily on favourable socio-economic factors like healthy GDP growth, rising purchasing power, changing food habits, and increasing urbanisation.

According to a report by Icra, India's poultry market size is estimated to be more than INR470 billion (US$10.6 billion), with broiler meat and table eggs contributing more than 95% of the market.

India ranks fourth in global broiler meat production with an annual production of about 2.9 million tonnes, and ranks third in table egg production, after the US and China, with an annual production of 57 billion eggs.

India's poultry sector has been growing annually at around 8-10% over the last decade and at over 15% in the last three years. Icra projects domestic broiler meat demand to grow around 15-18%, and table egg demand to grow 5-7% over the medium to long term.

Poultry production has remained largely limited to Southern India and western Maharashtra, though states like Haryana, Punjab, and parts of West Bengal have seen increased adoption of poultry farming as alternative source of income for the largely agrarian economy.