- Employment Generation:
- Sizable presence of small-scale industries.
- One of the major employment intensive segments.
- Can play a major role in moving labor from agriculture to manufacturing.
- Expected to employ 9 million people by 2024.
- Helps remove disguised unemployment and increase labor productivity.
- Export Promotion:
- India’s strategic geographical location and proximity to food importing nations.
- Rising exports of food items, main destinations being Middle East and South East Asia.
- With abundant livestock and cost competitiveness, India is emerging as a sourcing hub.
- Value addition makes products more competitive in international markets.