Gujarat Restaurant Industry Gets Fresh Push From NRAI Summit
Gujarat’s Restaurant Industry Looks Beyond Ahmedabad as Food Delivery Summit Comes to City
Gujarat’s restaurant trade is entering a period of wider expansion, with Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot seeing new dining formats while GIFT City is creating another market for restaurants and food businesses.
The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) is bringing its fifth Food Delivery Summit to Ahmedabad on 20 August. The event is expected to bring together restaurant owners, food brands, technology companies, investors and other businesses involved in food delivery.
The summit will be held at The Forum – Hotel & Convention. NRAI lists more than 5,000 attendees, 70 speakers, 1,500 brands and participants from more than 30 cities for the event. Its official programme places strong attention on technology, artificial intelligence, restaurant operations, delivery, direct ordering, franchising and changing customer demand.
For Gujarat, the event comes as the state’s food business becomes more varied. Ahmedabad alone has more than 20,000 restaurants, cafés and quick-service restaurants, according to figures cited by the industry body. The sector is estimated to be growing at about 10% to 12% a year.
NRAI says it has more than 500 members across Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Vadodara. The group includes established local businesses such as The Secret Kitchen, Gopi Dining Hall, Old School Eatery, 22nd Parallel and Jagdish Foods, along with larger brands such as La Pino’z and Baskin-Robbins.
The spread of restaurant formats is also changing. Customers in Gujarat are increasingly seeing premium dining, international food, cafés, quick-service outlets and experience-based restaurants alongside traditional local food businesses.
Some Gujarat-born brands are also looking outside the state. That creates a different business opportunity for local restaurant owners, who can now build brands for customers in other Indian cities and, in some cases, overseas markets.
Aanal Kotak, Chapter Head, NRAI Ahmedabad and Founder, The Secret Kitchen (India & Global), said, “This is a huge milestone for Gujarat, hosting a national event of this scale in Ahmedabad for the first time. The NRAI represents over 500,000 brands across 39+ cities, and we are proud that our presence has expanded from the Ahmedabad chapter to representing the entire Gujarat chapter.
Six months ago, people doubted hosting this here, thinking Gujarat lacked an F&B market. Our core committee convinced the national team to visit, and once they saw our immense passion for food, they agreed instantly. Today, I can proudly say this is the biggest event in the NRAI’s history.”
“Gujarat’s food ecosystem is becoming more diverse, and the change is visible across cities and across formats. Ahmedabad has a strong base of established and emerging restaurant businesses, while Surat and Rajkot add significant depth to the state’s overall market. At the same time, GIFT City is creating a new business and consumption environment that can open up opportunities for food and hospitality businesses. The combination of entrepreneurship, changing consumer preferences and this new economic activity makes Gujarat an important market for the future of the restaurant industry.”
GIFT City is one reason the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar region is drawing attention from the food and hospitality trade. The financial and business district already has restaurants, cafés, hotels and other food outlets serving workers, residents and visitors. The official GIFT City website lists outlets including GIFT City Club, Hotel Grand Mercure, Tea Post, Dev Café and Wall Street Café.
For restaurants, the business district offers a customer base that differs from traditional neighbourhood markets. Office workers and business visitors can create demand for breakfast, lunch, corporate meals, catering, premium dining and food ordered during meetings.
Pranav Rungta, Vice President of NRAI and Director of Mint Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, said, “We are very proud to host the 5th edition of our Food Delivery Summit in Ahmedabad. We have hosted this annually since 2021 in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Delhi, but with about 5,000 attendees from across Gujarat, this is our largest summit yet.
Gujarat’s food culture is booming. Ahmedabad alone has over 20,000 restaurants, and we now have growing NRAI chapters in Surat, Vadodara, and Rajkot. The NRAI represents the organised sector—businesses with GST and FSSAI registrations. The rapid growth of our membership shows that organised, hygienic, and compliant food businesses are expanding faster than the unorganised sector, which is great for consumers. Major national chains are already members, and local Gujarat brands are joining daily. We look forward to engaging with you over these two days.
Gujarat reflects a wider change taking place in the country’s restaurant trade.
“The restaurant industry in India is seeing its next phase of growth come from markets that have strong entrepreneurial ecosystems and increasingly diverse consumers. Gujarat is an important example of this shift. The strength of its restaurant businesses across Gujarat, combined with the emergence of new consumption centres such as GIFT City, creates a strong opportunity for the industry. The NRAI Food Delivery Summit is designed to bring the industry together around these changes and discuss how technology, entrepreneurship and evolving consumer behaviour will shape the next generation of restaurant businesses.”
Technology is another major issue for restaurant owners. Businesses are using software and data for menu planning, demand forecasts, stock control, online orders and customer communication. Artificial intelligence is also becoming part of discussions about restaurant management.
The NRAI summit’s programme reflects that change, with sessions planned around AI, intelligent restaurant platforms, direct ordering, marketing, loyalty programmes, restaurant valuation and building large food brands. Workshops will cover areas such as online customer acquisition, sales, packaging, menu development and content creation.
The wider Indian market gives some idea of the scale of the sector. NRAI’s India Food Services Report 2024 put the value of India’s food services industry at ₹5.69 lakh crore in 2024. It projected the market to reach ₹7.76 lakh crore by 2028, with an overall compound annual growth rate of 8.1%. The organised segment was expected to grow faster, at 13.2% a year. The report was based on discussions with more than 140 chief executives and consumer research involving more than 5,300 people across more than 40 cities.
NRAI also estimates that the sector employed about 85.5 lakh people in 2024 and expects employment to rise by more than 20% by 2028. It describes food services as India’s second-largest employer and expects the country to become the world’s third-largest food services market by 2028.
Gujarat’s restaurant sector is also likely to be affected by changes outside the food business itself. Ahmedabad is confirmed as the host city for the 2030 Commonwealth Games. Commonwealth Sport formally approved the city in November 2025, while government documents describe Gujarat as the host state.
The Games are expected to bring spending on accommodation, transport, catering and other visitor services. Gujarat is also pursuing its longer-term ambition of hosting the 2036 Olympic Games, with the state government examining sports infrastructure and related development. A Gujarat government report says Olympic planning has been linked to sports facilities, athlete accommodation and wider urban development.
For restaurants and caterers, large sporting events can create additional demand from athletes, officials, visitors and workers. The scale of that demand will depend on the final event plans and the infrastructure built before 2030.
The NRAI’s Gujarat leadership includes Co-Chapter Head Dilip Thakkar, Treasurer Ahmedabad Chirayu Aggarwal, Joint Secretary Pankaj Pathak and Joint Secretary Darshan Dasani.
The Ahmedabad summit also reflects the growing size of NRAI itself. Founded in 1982, the association says it represents more than 500,000 restaurants across India and works through state and city chapters. Its previous Food Delivery Summit in Delhi in 2025 drew more than 2,300 participants from over 25 cities, while the 2024 edition in Bengaluru attracted more than 1,300 restaurant and cloud kitchen owners.
The Ahmedabad meeting therefore comes at a useful point for Gujarat’s food trade. Restaurant owners are dealing with rising technology use, changing customer habits, delivery costs and the need to build stronger brands. At the same time, new commercial districts and major events are creating new sources of demand.
The immediate test for the industry will be whether Gujarat’s growing restaurant base can turn that demand into steady business, while local brands continue to expand beyond the state.
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