The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) launched its BHARATI initiative in September 2025 to empower 100 agri-food and agri-tech startups for boosting India’s agri-food exports, targeting $50 billion by 2030.
This pilot programme focuses on innovation, export readiness, and overcoming challenges around quality, perishability, and logistics in high-value categories like GI-tagged products, organic foods, livestock, superfoods, and AYUSH products. Key officials including Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Food Processing Minister Chirag Paswan underscored its importance in strengthening India’s export ecosystem while aligning with national goals such as Atmanirbhar Bharat and Vocal for Local.
The initiative includes a nationwide campaign to identify and support startups with advanced tech solutions like AI, blockchain, and IoT for sustainable export growth.
Accelerating Innovation and Export Readiness
BHARATI, which stands for Bharat’s Hub for Agritech, Resilience, Advancement and Incubation for Export Enablement, is designed as a comprehensive platform to catalyse innovation among startups in the agri-food sector. It offers a three-month acceleration programme covering product development, regulatory compliance, market access, and collaborative solutions to pressing export challenges.
Startups involved will work on breakthrough technologies including AI-based quality control systems, blockchain-enabled traceability, IoT-enabled cold chains, and agri-fintech services. These technologies address critical bottlenecks such as product quality, wastage, packaging innovations, and adherence to international sea protocols, thus boosting export potential sustainably.
Through partnerships with state agriculture boards, premier institutions like IITs and NITs, industry bodies, and accelerators, BHARATI aims to create an enabling ecosystem for long-term growth.
Strategic Context and National Ambitions
India’s status as the world’s second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables, combined with its vast food processing industry, presents immense export opportunities. However, persistent challenges like supply chain inefficiencies, quality assurance, and perishability have capped India’s export capabilities. BHARATI addresses these systemic issues by incubating startups that bring innovative solutions and value addition to agriculture and processed foods.
The initiative not only fits into the government’s broader goals of Atmanirbhar Bharat, Digital India, and Start-Up India but also aspires to enhance global competitiveness through demand-driven backward integration in food innovation. The pilot serves as a scalable model for annual incubation cycles, empowering younger entrepreneurs to contribute decisively toward achieving the $50 billion export target by 2030.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
BHARATI’s launch exemplifies a forward-thinking approach to strengthen grassroots innovation and promote inclusive economic development within India’s agricultural sector. By empowering startups to leverage cutting-edge technologies and collaborative networks, the initiative promises not only enhanced export performance but also environmental sustainability and equitable growth.
The Logical Indian supports policies that foster dialogue, empathy, and harmony between traditional agriculture and modern technology, ensuring a balanced and sustainable future.
