Experts Question Poodle Singh's Wastage Claims

While defending its decision to open FDI in retail, the government has all along said there is a 35 to 40 per cent wastage in fruit and vegetables in the country . However, the number could just be a “guesstimate” and nobody knows the source of the “35-40 per cent wastage” calculation, say experts.

Among cereals, the post-harvest loss ranged from 3.9 per cent to six per cent, with the lowest loss in sorghum and the highest in wheat. In pulses, the lowest loss was seen in chickpea at 4.3 per cent and the highest in black gram at 6.1 per cent. 
The traders’ community  has slammed the government for “cooking up” the figure. “Based on the ICAR study and the Planning Commission working group report, these post-harvest losses are nowhere around the staggering percentage quoted by the government. It appears that the government is coming up with these bogus figures for making up a case for allowing FDI in multi-brand retail,” said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders.

Business Standard: Question mark on govt fruit & vegetable wastage figures
Experts and traders argue data are not based on any scientific research or study