India emerges as fast-growing market for Brazilian agribusiness

Brazilian agribusiness exporters, long focused on North America, Europe and China, are increasingly turning to India. Farm and food exports to the country reached US$2.8 billion in 2025 and grew 47% in the first quarter, according to Valor. Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa) estimates the figure could reach US$9 billion by 2030, driven by cotton, ethanol, soybean oil and bovine genetics.

Ethanol and sugar

The sugar-ethanol chain shows how fast the relationship has shifted. In 2014, Brazilian producers were criticising Indian subsidies to the sector. Eduardo Leão, strategy and new-markets director at cane industry group Unica, said Brazilian experience helped India expand its ethanol programme, raising the gasoline blend from about 2% to roughly 20% in under ten years. Martinho Ono, CEO of ethanol broker SCA Brasil, said diverting part of India's cane output to ethanol reduces the country's sugar surpluses, easing pressure on global supply and favouring Brazilian producers.

Cotton's rapid climb

Cotton has advanced fastest. Brazil, the world's largest cotton exporter, expects to ship 300,000 tonnes to India in the 2025/2026 season, up from just 8,000 tonnes in 2023. Gustavo Piccoli, president of growers' association Abrapa, described India as the world's second-largest consumer market and a major link in the global textile chain, crediting long-term work by sector associations and the Brazilian government, backed by technical assistance to Indian mills. Growth could accelerate as climate change and limited farmland constrain Indian production.

Vegetable oils and bovine genetics

Vegetable oils are another pillar. Brazil is already the second-largest soybean oil supplier to India with 39.5% of the market, behind only Argentina. Indian edible oil demand runs at 15 million to 16 million tonnes a year, of which about 4 million tonnes is soybean oil. Livestock genetics is a newer front: Alta Genetics do Brasil completed its first Indian shipment in early 2024, sending 40,000 doses of Gir Leiteiro semen to Mumbai — Brazil's largest bovine semen export to India, after four years of technical, commercial and sanitary negotiations. Commercial director Tiago Carrara said talks are under way for new projects involving embryos and advanced breeding programmes, given India's position as the world's largest milk producer and consumer.

Trade framework lags

Ruy Toledo, agribusiness partner at FAS Advogados, said closer ties with India — a country of 1.4 billion people and an urban middle class of 350 million — could be the most significant shift for Brazilian agriculture since China became its main export destination at 20%. He added that demand is likely to grow for proteins, processed foods, specialty coffees, fruit and higher value-added goods. Barriers remain, however. Renato Cunha, president of sugar, ethanol and bioenergy association NovaBio, noted that the India-Mercosur preferential agreement dates from 2009 and covers only 450 tariff lines.