In September 2025, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) works under the Department of Commerce (DoC), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoC&I), launched its new initiative, ‘Bharat’s Hub for Agritech, Resilience, Advancement and Incubation for Export Enablement (BHARATI)’, aimed to promote India’s agri-food exports.
- This new initiative was launched on the sidelines of the ‘Food & Beverages Sector Stakeholders Meeting’, chaired by the Union Minister Piyush Goyal, MoC&I; along with Union Minister Chirag Paswan, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI); and Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s Minister of Foreign Trade; in New Delhi, Delhi.
Exam Hints:
- What? Launch of BHARATI Initiative
- Launched by: APEDA
- Where? New Delhi, Delhi
- Key Targets: To support 100 agri-food and agri-tech startups, and to achieve USD 50 billion by 2030
- Focus Areas: GI products, organic foods, superfoods, processed agri-foods, livestock, AYUSH products.
- Partners: State agri boards, agri universities, IITs, NITs, industry bodies
- 1st Pilot Cohort : From September 2025.
About BHARATI Initiative:
Purpose: It is designed to support 100 agri-food and agri-tech startups, promote innovation and generate new export opportunities for young entrepreneurs.
Target: APEDA has set the target to achieve USD 50 billion in agri-food exports for its Scheduled Products by 2030.
Focused Area: This newly launched initiative seeks to promote innovation in high-value categories like: Geographical Indication (GI)-tagged agri-products, organic foods, superfoods, novel processed Indian agri-foods, livestock products, and AYUSH(Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, and Homoeopathy) products.
- It also aims to cover startups working on advanced technologies such as: Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based quality control, blockchain-enabled traceability, among others, while addressing critical areas like innovative packaging, sustainability and sea protocols.
Challenges: This new initiative also seeks to resolve export challenges faced by agri-food sector like: product development, value addition, quality assurance, perishability, wastage and logistics.
- It will connect agri-food innovators, tech-driven solution providers and Sanitary and Phytosanitary- Technical Barriers to Trade (SPS-TBT)-focused startups to deliver scalable, cost-effective solutions to improve India’s global competitiveness.
Nation-wide Campaign: BHARATI initiative features a nation-wide awareness campaign to engage stakeholders and attract solution-focused startups across the country.
Key Partners: APEDA will collaborate with state agricultural boards, agricultural universities, premier institutions like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), and National Institutes of Technology (NITs), industry bodies, to attract startups for agri-export enablement.
About 1st Pilot cohort of BHARATI :
1st Phase: The 1st pilot cohort of the initiative, started in September 2025, will support 100 startups, including high-value agri-food producers, technology-driven service providers and innovators.
Application and Selection Process: Application as well selection process started from September 2025 through the APEDA website to shortlist 100 startups for the export enablement programme.
- Selected startups will undergo a 3-month acceleration programme, which focuses on product development, export readiness, regulatory compliance, market access and collaborative solutions to address export challenges.
About Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA):
It is a statutory body established by the Government of India (GoI) under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) Act, 1985.
Chairman- Abhishek Dev
Headquarters- New Delhi, Delhi
Established- 1986
