Bridging workforce gaps in India’s plant-based protein sector

India’s growing plant-based (PB) smart protein sector, which develops meat, eggs, dairy, and seafood from plant sources, is in need of a skilled workforce with domain-specific practical knowledge. With the market for plant-based proteins poised to grow to 25 million metric tons by 2030, there is a significant opportunity for India to contribute to sectoral advancement with specialised and skilled talent. In January 2025, industry leaders and academicians deliberated on plant-based protein talent and workforce development to address current challenges, discuss collaborative solutions, and outline actionable steps.
A need for sector-specific skills
When graduates enter the plant-based protein workforce or transition from allied industry, they often lack sector-specific skills and hands-on experience, requiring companies to invest significant time in training them. Two startups highlighted their practice of training recent graduates in protein extraction and ingredient manufacturing over several months after they were hired. While reskilling is effective for manufacturing-related job roles, specialised innovation and R&D roles require more focused academic training. Plant-based protein companies emphasised that candidates hired for production-related roles should ideally have a deep understanding of plant-protein science and comprehensive knowledge of unit operations and machinery involved in the process.

Participants in the discussion recognised that the PB smart protein sector needs diverse skills across the value chain, some of which are transferrable between industries. Talent from allied sectors plays a crucial role in driving product innovation and ensuring a steady supply of high-quality products. For instance, students specialising in agroecology and agriculture are instrumental in identifying seed varieties with optimal protein content and functionality traits for smart protein applications. They can also assist farmers in producing superior-quality crops and leverage their knowledge to source and validate the quality of raw materials and other inputs according to the needed specifications. Similarly, food technology graduates can be instrumental in developing innovative products using novel ingredients with favourable nutritional, textural, and sensorial attributes.
Further downstream, the sector also requires skilled business development and marketing talent to help entrepreneurs establish a strong brand entity and maintain customer resonance with the brand’s offerings. Additionally, the participants agreed that there is a need for more professionals working in R&D capable of scaling technologies from the lab scale to commercial production.
Educational gaps in the Indian curriculum
The majority of the academic and training institutions in India do not offer courses tailored to PB smart protein. Institutions offering food technology and food science degree programs provide foundational training in allied subjects such as food chemistry and biochemistry. However, the lack of practical training in these programmes limits their relevance for industrial requirements.
Some institutions have identified students’ growing interest in learning more about the smart protein sector. For instance, the University of TransDisciplinary Health Sciences and Technology in Bangalore is offering short courses and workshops under their Food Futures Program covering topics from protein biology and extraction to extrusion techniques. While this is encouraging, the inclusion of PB protein courses in mainstream curricula or as electives in academic institutions remains to be seen.
To bridge this gap, the group urged policymakers, such as the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the University Grants Commission (UGC), to embed PB-related concepts into national education standards and curricula. With the global market for plant-based foods surging, academic experts endorse the introduction of PB smart protein courses in the existing curriculum to equip their students with sector-specific knowledge.
Bridging the gap between industry and academia
Industry pioneers expressed their willingness to support talent development by offering their pilot plant facilities for practical training and internships to students, to mitigate the current gaps in theoretical knowledge. Industry stakeholders emphasised the importance of working with academic institutes that teach food technology courses to conduct orientation programmes for students to become more aware of job roles in the PB smart protein sector. Academic institutions, too, shared their openness to hosting tailored training programmes for the industry, focusing on hands-on practical sessions to help with upskilling. An interesting collaborative model proposed by academia suggested that companies can launch projects and assign select employees to work in the academic institute’s laboratory to upskill and build capacity.
Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) and Imperial College London’s Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein provide a blueprint for fostering collaboration between industry and academia through co-funded research and practical training initiatives with the government’s support. These collaborations also create opportunities for students to gain exposure to emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning that can be applied to improve plant protein extraction and extrusion processes. While these may require significant investments in the short term, they have the potential to contribute to the long-term transformative growth and development of the sector.
The road ahead involves aligning educational priorities and industry needs, fostering mutually beneficial collaborations, and equipping students with practical skills while building avenues for theoretical learning. As India’s PB smart protein sector grows, these initiatives will ensure a steady supply of skilled talent to drive innovation and scalability.