India is now the world's fastest growing significant economy with yearly I growth rate more than 7.8% and GDP value of $2.5 trillion. With a population of 1.4 billion growing at about 1.5% each year, foreign exchange reserves are about $595 billion. The value of export and import is over $700 billion. Millets have been an integral part of our diet for centuries. In addition to a plethora of health benefits, millets are also good for the environment with low water & input requirements. With the aim to create awareness and increase production & consumption of millets, United Nations, at the behest of the Government of India, declared 2023 the International Year Millets. According to the Govt. estimates, about 16 million tonnes millets have been produced in India, which is about 5 percent of the national food grain basket. It has the highest market share of 9.62 million tonnes, followed by jowar with a production of 4.23 million tonnes. Ragi is another important millet, which contributes to the production of 1.70 million tonnes and the production of other millets is 0.37 million tonnes.

The share of agriculture in GDP is about 15%. India is the world's second largest producer of rice and wheat; and the largest producer of pulses. India produces enormous quantities of major grains – rice (paddy), wheat and pulses - the country's milling industry is absolutely vibrant. We process about 200 million tonnes of various grains and the industry employs about 400,000 persons. The Indian grain milling industry is a quaint amalgam of the traditional and the modern. If the milling industry had to be explained in one word, it would be 'fragmentation'. There are a large number of small mills and medium-sized milling units dotting the country's skyline. India has over 5000 flour milling and chakki plants in organized and unorganized sector, 10000 rice mills, 2000 pulses mills, 200 soybean plants, 2000 spices crushing plants, 2000 oilseeds crushing units, 1000 feed units, 100 bio-fuel and energy projects, 1000 coffee plants etc., which are looking for new and better technology to upgrade their manufacturing, processing and packaging line. During our last conference on “Grain Storage, Handling, Milling, Food Processing and Automation”, we felt that there is huge scope for capacity

scale-up, modernization and automation of many milling units in the country. With this business potential, Media Today Group is proud to announce the 14th edition of GrainTech India 2024, India's largest Technology Exhibition for Grains, Rice, Cereals, Spices, Pulses, Biscuits, Milling, Oil Seeds, Feeds, Storage, Processing, Packaging, Ingredients and Allied Industries, scheduled to be held from 22-24, August 2024 at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), Bangalore, India. The GrainTech India 2024 is being held concurrently with 15th India Foodex 2024, an International Exhibition on Food & Beverage Products, Food Processing & Packaging Machinery, HORECA, Cold Chain and Allied Industries. The event is aimed to provide a platform for participants to showcase their products and technologies related to production, storage, distribution, transportation and processing of food grains and other food items

The organizing committee along with the prominent exhibitors are extending invitations to the members of Indian agri and food organizations such as Roller Flour Millers Federation of India, The Solvent Extractors Association of India, All India Food Preservers' Association, The Soybean Processors Association of India, All India Rice Exporters Association, Indian Oilseeds and Produce Export Promotion Council and Indian Biscuits Manufacturers Association, Spices Board of India and many more. This exhibition series has been a proven platform to reduce the technological gap between processing and supply chain, further value addition to achieve the export targets. For the same, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, and Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) under the Ministry of Commerce are focusing to promote technological advancements and value addition in all segments like rice, wheat, pulses, oilseeds, and spices, dairy and related sectors including value addition of Indian Millets in a big way to support start-ups and encourage milling industry to focus on these crops. Let's join and explore the business opportunities at GrainTech India and India Foodex 2024