The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued final authorisation to 17 recycled polyethylene terephthalate (r-PET) manufacturing plants.
The move comes amid packaging material shortages linked to the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
Among the companies receiving authorisation are Dodhia Industries, Ganesha Ecopet, JB Ecotex, Ribotl Solutions, and Srichakra Polyplast.
The newly authorised plants add a collective capacity of 300,000 tonnes to India’s circular packaging infrastructure.
This development coincides with efforts to meet the nation’s target for using 40% recycled content by 2026–2027.
A statement from the Association of PET Recyclers (APR) Bharat said: “The FSSAI’s move granting final licences will help strengthen India’s packaging supply chain at a time when virgin PET faces global pressures in the wake of the Iran-Israel war.”
The additional capacity is expected to support the needs of sectors such as beverage bottling, which require food-grade packaging solutions.
Under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 (as amended), India requires at least 30% recycled content in rigid plastic packaging beginning in 2025–2026.
This threshold will increase incrementally by 10% each year until it reaches 60% by 2028–2029.
India now has approximately 15–18 food-grade r-PET recycling facilities with a total estimated capacity of around 300,000 tonnes and investment between Rs90bn ($974.4m) and Rs100bn.
APR Bharat director general Goutham Jain commented: “With these 17 r-PET manufacturing plants receiving final authorisations, there will be surplus r-PET available in the market. This can help fill any gap in the supply of polymers due to the ongoing war and volatility in global markets.”
