India is firmly on its way to becoming an international food processing hub, the country's Union Minister of State for Industry, Ashwani Kumar, told a Japanese delegation in Ernakulam, Kerala.

"It is estimated that an investment opportunity of US$22 billion exists in this sector in India for the next 10 years," Kumar announced at a meeting with the group led by the Japan's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Kiyohiko Toyama.

The food processing sector, Kumar said, was growing at about 20 per cent domestically, providing immense opportunities for investors. He estimated that the domestic processed food market will triple in the next 10 years to about US$310 billion.

The Japanese delegation is in India as a prelude to the Prime MInister Manmohan Singh's planned state visit to Japan.