According to the National Restaurant Association of India's India Food Services Report 2024, in a summary published by Luxury Abode, India is projected to overtake Japan and become the third-largest food services market worldwide by 2028. IBEF links the growth to rising incomes, urbanisation and changing lifestyles, while Restroworks shows the organised segment growing fast beside a larger unorganised one.
A market still taking shape
IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation) puts the sector's growth down to rising incomes, urbanisation and changing lifestyles, which are drawing more Indian consumers towards eating out and towards organised dining formats. Market data compiled by Restroworks shows India's organised restaurant sector growing quickly next to an unorganised segment that still accounts for most of the market. Much of the growth ahead, in other words, comes from the market becoming more organised, not only from new demand.
Looking further out, NRAI's India Food Services Report 2024, in a summary published by Luxury Abode, expects the sector to post strong compound annual growth until 2028. On that projection, India passes Japan to become the third-largest food services market worldwide.
What NRAI is and does
The National Restaurant Association of India is the apex trade body for restaurant and food-service businesses across the country; its Wikipedia entry covers how it was founded, how it is structured and its history. On its own news portal, the association presents itself as the collective voice of the industry, lobbying government and the media on the policy questions that matter to restaurant owners in every part of India.
The industry has already faced one severe test
The long-term outlook is positive, but the sector has already been through a serious shock. Deccan Herald reported on NRAI's 2020 advisory, issued in the very first days of the coronavirus outbreak, which urged member restaurants to shut voluntarily as a precaution.
Around the same time, restaurateur Riyaaz Amlani told Outlook Business that without direct relief from the government, the lockdowns risked closing a big portion of the country's food and beverage businesses for good. The interview ran under the headline "If the government does not step in with clear incentives, the industry will collapse".
Where the growth is coming from
Restaurant India's look at trends for 2026 says Indian restaurants are moving towards hyper-regional Indian cuisines, premium positioning for their menus, and formats built around technology and delivery, and that they now compete on the whole experience rather than on food alone. Local Samosa describes the same change from the diner's side: consumers increasingly pick restaurants for curated outings built around an experience, which is pushing operators to spend more on ambience and storytelling than they used to.
Two guides aimed at people weighing how to get into the business, UrbanPiper's on what a restaurant franchise costs and Sankalp Group's on buying one, both present franchising as a more common starting point in Indian F&B today than opening an independent outlet from scratch.
What this means for your restaurant
- Read the headline projections as a picture of the whole market, not a promise for any single outlet; the sources place much of the growth in formalisation and in experience-led dining.
- If you are rethinking your menu or format, the trends reported by Restaurant India and Local Samosa favour hyper-regional cuisine, premium positioning, delivery-led formats and more investment in ambience and storytelling.
- Keep an eye on NRAI's updates, since it is the body that takes restaurant owners' policy concerns to government and the media.
- Remember how fast conditions changed in 2020, when NRAI was advising members to close within the first days of the outbreak.
Sources
- Restaurant Trends in India 2026: What's Changing? — Restaurant India
- Indian Restaurant Industry Statistics – Market Data, Trends & Dining Behavior — Restroworks
- Exploring India's Booming Restaurant Industry — IBEF
- National Restaurant Association of India — Wikipedia
- NRAI – The voice of the Indian restaurant industry — NRAI
- National Restaurant Association of India Unveils Key Insights with India Food Services Report 2024 — Luxury Abode
- NRAI issues advisory to shut restaurants amid coronavirus pandemic — Deccan Herald
- If the government does not step in with clear incentives, the industry will collapse — Outlook Business
- From Dining Out to Dining Experiences: How India’s F&B Industry is Changing — Local Samosa
- Restaurant Franchise In India - how to start and how much does it cost? — UrbanPiper
- Step-by-Step Guide to Buying a Food Franchise in India — Sankalp Group
This article summarises the reporting and guides listed above; the figures belong to those sources and are attributed in the text. Check anything that affects your business against your own platform agreements, payout statements and advisers.