The food industry is vast in India and generates business worth Rs 4.23 lakh crore every year.
Only 4.67 lakh of the 24.9 lakh food business operators (FBOs) in India have a food safety licence, according to the NRAI India Food Services Report 2019. This means only one in five eateries in the country has a licence by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The FSSAI ordered the Food and Drug Administration last week to grant licences to restaurants within two months if they are found to be compliant with the rules. The food regulator also said in a letter to commissioners of food safety across India, that small businesses that were not granted registration or faced a delayed process, can start operations. Also, if the body does not order inspection within a week of registration, or there is no communication for a month, restaurants or outlets may start serving food.
"FSSAI has received representations from food business operators regarding non-issuance or non-processing of their licence and registration within a stipulated time frame. This causes undue inconvenience and delays in commencing food businesses by FBOs," the letter read, as per a report in The Economic Times.
The food industry is vast in India and generates business worth Rs 4.23 lakh crore every year. But, more than half of it is still unorganised, and as per the NRAI, that will shrink by 2023.
Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have the most number of licenced food outlets (1.16 lakh and 90,530 respectively).
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