Inside India’s $28 Bn+ Agritech Opportunity And The Rise Of AI-Powered Farming
by Inc42 BrandLabs · Inc42SUMMARY
- According to Inc42 & StarAgri’s Indian Agritech Market Landscape Report 2025, India’s agritech market is projected to grow from $9 Bn in 2025 to $28 Bn by 2030, as the sector moves beyond farm-level pilots into infrastructure-led models spanning storage, financing and market access
- Market linkage is emerging as the largest agritech value pool, with post-harvest infrastructure, logistics and buyer access expected to contribute ~45% of agritech value by 2030; scaled platforms such as StarAgri, DeHaat, Ninjacart and Samunnati are consolidating control across the seed-to-shelf value chain
- AI is becoming one of the fastest-growing agritech sub-segments, scaling from ~$900 Mn in 2025 to $5.6 Bn by 2030, with adoption concentrated in yield forecasting, water optimisation, credit underwriting, insurance and price discovery, improving predictability and decision-making in a sector shaped by volatility and thin margins
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India’s economic momentum has few parallels globally. Even as major economies slow, India is expected to remain the fastest-growing large economy in FY26, with GDP growth projected at 6.6%. Much of the public conversation has stayed focused on digital-first sectors — fintech, SaaS, consumer internet, and now AI. But the country’s most consequential transformation is unfolding in Agritech, a sector far older and far larger.
Agriculture and allied activities still employ 46% of India’s workforce and underpin rural income, consumption, and export competitiveness. And while agriculture is often framed as a low-growth, low-innovation sector, the last few years tell a different story. Despite climate volatility and supply-chain disruptions, agriculture’s Gross Value Added rose to $290 Bn in FY25, up from $277 Bn a year earlier. Exports have continued to climb as well, touching nearly $49 Bn, driven by India’s leadership in staples such as rice, spices, marine products, sugar, tea, and coffee.
What is changing, however, is not the scale of agriculture; it is the structure. Formal credit is steadily replacing informal finance, data is beginning to shape on-farm decisions, and technology is embedding itself across production, storage, financing, and market access. Platforms such as DeHaat and AgroStar are formalising input access and advisory at the farm gate, while players like StarAgri and Arya.ag are institutionalising post-harvest storage and collateral-backed financing. Together, these shifts mark the transition of agritech from isolated tools to system-level infrastructure.
According to Inc42 and StarAgri’s Indian Agritech Market Landscape Report, 2025, India’s agritech market will grow from $9 Bn in 2025 to $28 Bn by 2030, expanding at a 25% CAGR. In a $452 Bn agricultural economy, that may appear incremental. But the number masks a deeper shift: agritech is moving from scattered pilots to system-level infrastructure.
Why Agritech Still Touches Only The Edges Of Indian Agriculture
Despite strong growth, agritech today accounts for just about 2% of India’s overall agriculture market — a share expected to rise to only 5% by the end of the decade. This is not because technology lacks relevance on the farm. It is because Indian agriculture is structurally difficult to digitise at scale.
Nearly 69% of Indian farmers operate on less than one hectare of land. Farm incomes are seasonal and volatile. Digital literacy varies sharply across regions. Connectivity remains inconsistent beyond large rural clusters. In such an environment, adoption risk is high and tolerance for experimentation is low. For most farmers, a wrong decision is a livelihood risk.
This is why agritech adoption has largely been concentrated among progressive, capital-ready farmers and organised institutions. Early adoption has been strongest among farmers linked to FPOs, organised supply chains, or platforms such as Samunnati and Jai Kisan, where credit, procurement, and market access are bundled. For the vast majority of smallholders operating outside these networks, the perceived risk of adopting new technology remains high.
At the same time, the foundations for broader adoption are quietly strengthening. Institutional credit penetration among farmers has nearly doubled over the past decade, rising from 37% in FY11 to 68% in FY24. This shift has enabled agri-fintech players such as Samunnati, Jai Kisan, and Arya.ag to design bundled offerings where credit, insurance, warehousing, and market access travel together — reducing risk for both farmers and lenders, and improving unit economics across the value chain.
The workforce itself is also changing. Women now account for 64% of agricultural employment, up from 57% in FY18, as male labour migrates toward construction, trade, and services. This demographic shift is reshaping how agricultural decisions are made at the household level — and will increasingly influence how agritech platforms design interfaces, delivery models, and trust mechanisms.
As agritech platforms scale across credit, storage and market linkage, AI is increasingly shaping how decisions are made across the farm value chain.
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