New Delhi, January 20 (IANS). India’s coffee exports have almost doubled in the last four years to $ 1.29 billion in the financial year 2023-24, from $ 719.42 million in the financial year 2020-21. This information was given by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday.
The ministry informed that with this India has become the seventh largest coffee producer in the world.
In the first fortnight of January 2025, India exported more than 9,300 tonnes of coffee to countries including Italy, Belgium and Russia. Due to its unique and better taste, the country’s coffee exports have increased significantly.
Arabica and robusta beans account for about three-fourths of India’s coffee production. These are mainly exported as unroasted beans. However, demand for value-added products like roasted and instant coffee is increasing, leading to a boost in exports.
The ministry said that due to the rise of café culture, higher disposable income and increasing preference towards coffee over tea, coffee consumption in India is also continuously increasing and this trend is increasing in both urban and rural areas.
Domestic consumption is expected to increase from 84,000 tonnes in 2012 to 91,000 tonnes in 2023 and this growth reflects the growing trend of coffee.
India’s coffee is mainly grown in the ecologically rich Western and Eastern Ghats, a region renowned for its biodiversity. Karnataka leads the production, producing 248,020 metric tonnes of coffee in 2022-23. After that comes Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Coffee production began in India centuries ago, when the famous saint Baba Budan brought seven mocha seeds to the hills of Karnataka in the 1600s. Baba Budan Giri’s simple act of planting these seeds in the courtyard of his ashram inadvertently established India as one of the world’s leading coffee producers.
Now coffee cultivation in India has evolved from a simple practice to a thriving industry and coffee from India is now loved across the world.
–IANS
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