Executive Summary

Food is the biggest consumption category in India with a market size of USD 181BILLION. Domestically , the spending on food and food products amounts to 21% of Indias GDP. Indian consumer spends about 31% share of its wallet in food consumption. By virtue of food being a major part of consumers budget and the population already crossing one billion mark, this has got into lot of limelight and have gained lot of prominence. Its importance and its promising future can be realized from the fact that this sector continued to perform well, despite fall in GDP number and poor performance by many other industries, during recession in 2008-09. Realising its lucrative nature and in an effort to boost the food sector Government is working on agrizones and the concept of Mega food park with the intention of not only the development of food industry but also to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the food processing sector.With Odisha being a primarily an agriculture economy on mega food park was allotted in Khurda District. These developments have led to more demand for skilled, semiskilled and unskilled workers whose shortage may emerge as a critical factor impacting the competitiveness of Indian Food Industry. Besides necessary support infrastructure, EFFICIENT AND TRAINED MANPOWER IS one such critical element that foster desirable growth in this sector. With the advancement and adoption of various levels of automation the demand for skilled manpower in this industry would increase phenomenally. Moreover to achieve growth targets and become globally competitive, development and efficient and effective training of human resource would play a critical role. Considering these developments and to anlayse the skill shortage and to anticipate THE UPCOMING EMPLOYMENT opportunities in the food industry in Odisha a survey was conducted to gauge the resposes of various food industry players who are having there operation in food park in the state. The study focused on the following aspects: 1. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of workforce demand scenario in the food industry. 2. Current status of shortage of manpower in the sector. 3.