Country Profile

India

Photo: Adam Cohn

 
 

Region: India

Population: 1,438,069,596

Percent of population in urban areas: 34

Source: Population figures from the United Nations Population Division.

Our Work in India

Plan

Implement

Monitor

Wheat

Rice

 
 
 
 

Grain Production, Imports, Exports, and Availability

  Domestic production Grain imports Grain exports Flour imports Flour exports Available in food supply
Wheat 108,472,000 156,000 8,020,000 4,416 708,441 163
Maize 33,730,000 128,000 4,629,000 79 99,305 11
Rice 122,688,875 11,832 21,775,950 181

All figures (except the amount available in food supply for consumption) are expressed in metric tons. Amount of flour or rice available in food supply is expressed in grams/person/day. 

Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. For details, see our “How We Get Our Data” page.

 

Legislation, Milling Industry, and Fortification

  Legislation Number of industrial mills (>20 metric tons/day) % Flour/rice produced in industrial mills % Industrially milled flour/rice that is fortified
Wheat Voluntary 1200 30 1
Maize Voluntary
Rice None 26

Industrial wheat and maize flour mill: capacity to mill more than 20 metric tons/day

Industrial rice mill: capacity to mill at least 5 metric tons/hour of paddy rice

Source: FFI database.

  • Note: Estimates may differ from Global Fortification Data Exchange estimates as FFI assumes imported flour/rice is industrially milled. FFI includes imported flour/rice into the total percentage of flour/rice produced in industrial mills and percentage of industrially milled flour/rice that is fortified.

 

Nutrients Added Through Fortification

  Minerals B Vitamins Vitamin A Vitamin D Vitamin E
  Calcium Iron Type of iron Selenium Zinc B6 B12 Folic acid Niacin Riboflavin Thiamin
Wheat 17.625 Electrolytic Iron, Ferric Pyrophosphate, Ferrous Bisglycinate, Ferrous Citrate, Ferrous Fumarate, Ferrous Lactate, Ferrous Sulfate, NaFeEDTA 12.5 2 0.001 0.1 16.25 1.5 1.25 0.625
Maize 0.625
Rice 17.625 Ferric Pyrophosphate, NaFeEDTA 12.5 2 0.001 0.1 16.25 1.5 1.25 0.625

All nutrient amounts are expressed in parts per million.

Source: FFI database.

 

Prevalence of Neural Tube Defects, Anemia, and Inadequate Zinc Intake

Neural tube defects per 10,000 births1 % Anemia in non-pregnant women of reproductive age2 % Anemia in pre-school children3 % Population at risk of inadequate zinc intake4
32 48 59 31.2

[1] Source: Hannah Blencowe, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Personal communication. United Kingdom. 2015.

  • Note: This figure may not include pregnancy loss or terminations of pregnancies due to prenatal diagnosis of a neural tube defect. With all folic acid interventions in place, the birth prevalence of neural tube defects would be about 6 per 10,000.

[2] Source: World Health Organization. The global prevalence of anemia in 2011. Switzerland. 2015.

  • Note: Anemia can be caused by many things. Fortifying flour and rice can reduce the risk of anemia caused by nutritional deficiencies. The classification of anemia as a public health problem, according to the World Health Organization is:

    • ≤4.9% No public health problem

    • 5.0-19.9% Mild public health problem

    • 20.0-39.9% Moderate public health problem

    • ≥40.0% Severe public health problem

[3] Source: World Health Organization. The global prevalence of anemia in 2011. Switzerland. 2015.

  • Note: Preschool children are usually defined as ages 6-59 months.

[4] Source: Wessells KR, Brown KH. Estimating the global prevalence of zinc deficiency: results based on zinc availability in national food supplies and the prevalence of stunting. United States of America. 2012.