New Delhi, Dec. 1 -- India, home to the world's sixth-largest food processing industry, may put in place new technical standards to curb the inflow of substandard imported machinery after a government study found that China accounts for 41% of India's $843 million worth food-processing equipment imports. The food processing and consumer affairs ministries are looking to draft standards that will form the basis of upcoming Quality Control Orders (QCOs) that will mandate minimum safety, hygiene and performance requirements for all such machinery sold domestically, three senior officials involved in the development told Mint.

The proposal comes amid concern over frequent breakdowns, low efficiency and safety risks associated with some impor...