Clocking a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 16%, the packaged food market in India is expected to have crossed the $51.5 million mark in 2015 vs $25 million in 2010, according to “Dynamics Involved in Multi-Layered Food Packaging,” a study produced by ASSOCHAM (The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) and TechSci Research, India.

“In wake of the increasing disposable incomes and growing number of nuclear families, market share of packaged food in processed food market is expected to marginally increase to about 29% in 2016 from about 28% in 2015,” the study says.

Food and beverage packaging market in India was estimated at about $16 billion as of 2015 from about $12 billion in 2010 and registered a CAGR of over 6%.

With a size of over $4 billion, the plastic food packaging market currently accounts for lion’s share of about 63% in India’s total plastic packaging market, which is currently valued at about $7 billion.

Market for multi-layer plastic food packaging is currently estimated at about $1 billion, which is about 22% of India’s total plastic food packaging industry. However, in the total food and beverages packaging market, multi-layer plastic food packaging accounts for over 6% share in value terms.

“Growing usage of packaging material in various foodservice outlets together with increasing demand for packaged beverage and expanding working class population has given impetus to food packaging industry in India,” says D.S. Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM.

In terms of share, metallic and other packaging material accounts for about half of India’s overall food and beverages packaging market followed by printed cartons and rigid packaging (28%) and flexible packaging material like food packaging laminates and packaging foils (24%), the study says.