Jhalmuri as India's next global export? Harsh Goenka thinks so after Modi stop
PM Modi's visit to a jhalmuri shop in Jhargram during a campaign tour on Sunday drew massive traction online. The video of the visit clocked 100 million views within 24 hours on Instagram and nearly 90 million on Facebook
- Apr 21, 2026,
- Updated Apr 21, 2026 1:54 PM IST
An unscheduled stop by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a roadside jhalmuri stall in West Bengal has sparked a surge in interest around the traditional snack, with industry voices now pitching it as a potential global export.
Don't Miss: The Jhalmuri moment: What’s driving the craze and how PM Modi’s pit stop fueled the buzz
The prime minister's visit to a jhalmuri shop in Jhargram during a campaign tour on Sunday drew massive traction online. The video of the visit clocked 100 million views within 24 hours on Instagram and nearly 90 million on Facebook. Google search traffic for "jhalmuri" also hit its highest level in 22 years.
Modi, who was addressing four public meetings across the state that day, made the stop during his schedule and later shared images and videos of the snack on social media. "Amid four public meetings spanning across West Bengal on a hectic Sunday, I savoured some delicious spicy puffed rice, Jhalmuri in Jhargram," he said in posts on X.
Reacting to the spike in attention, RPG Group chairman Harsh Goenka said the moment could make jhalmuri a global product. "When the PM paused for a humble paper cone of jhalmuri, little did he know he was about to puff up an entire industry," he said in a post on Tuesday.
Calling jhalmuri "India’s best street food", Goenka suggested the snack could follow the trajectory of global health trends. "Quinoa, then avacado, can this be the next superfood?" he wrote.
He added that branding could transform its market value. "Someone just needs to call it 'air-infused indigenous rice crackle with artisanal mustard oil reduction added with some hand-crushed chillies and cloudy coconut chunks, and it becomes a ₹450 delicacy. And why not?"
Goenka outlined what he sees as the snack's strengths: "Light enough to eat guilt-free. Spicy enough to wake up your taste buds. Cheap enough to be 'sabka saath sabka vikaas.'"
In a pitch, he said simplicity could be its global appeal. "In a world of complicated diets and complicated geopolitics, jhalmuri remains beautifully simple: mix, toss, eat, smile. If handled right, jhalmuri could well be India’s next global export."
An unscheduled stop by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a roadside jhalmuri stall in West Bengal has sparked a surge in interest around the traditional snack, with industry voices now pitching it as a potential global export.
Don't Miss: The Jhalmuri moment: What’s driving the craze and how PM Modi’s pit stop fueled the buzz
The prime minister's visit to a jhalmuri shop in Jhargram during a campaign tour on Sunday drew massive traction online. The video of the visit clocked 100 million views within 24 hours on Instagram and nearly 90 million on Facebook. Google search traffic for "jhalmuri" also hit its highest level in 22 years.
Modi, who was addressing four public meetings across the state that day, made the stop during his schedule and later shared images and videos of the snack on social media. "Amid four public meetings spanning across West Bengal on a hectic Sunday, I savoured some delicious spicy puffed rice, Jhalmuri in Jhargram," he said in posts on X.
Reacting to the spike in attention, RPG Group chairman Harsh Goenka said the moment could make jhalmuri a global product. "When the PM paused for a humble paper cone of jhalmuri, little did he know he was about to puff up an entire industry," he said in a post on Tuesday.
Calling jhalmuri "India’s best street food", Goenka suggested the snack could follow the trajectory of global health trends. "Quinoa, then avacado, can this be the next superfood?" he wrote.
He added that branding could transform its market value. "Someone just needs to call it 'air-infused indigenous rice crackle with artisanal mustard oil reduction added with some hand-crushed chillies and cloudy coconut chunks, and it becomes a ₹450 delicacy. And why not?"
Goenka outlined what he sees as the snack's strengths: "Light enough to eat guilt-free. Spicy enough to wake up your taste buds. Cheap enough to be 'sabka saath sabka vikaas.'"
In a pitch, he said simplicity could be its global appeal. "In a world of complicated diets and complicated geopolitics, jhalmuri remains beautifully simple: mix, toss, eat, smile. If handled right, jhalmuri could well be India’s next global export."