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PM hails Indian coffee amid surge in exports
India's coffee exports may exceed $2 billion this fiscal year, boosted by FTAs, with PM Modi noting its rising global popularity.
New Delhi: India’s coffee exports is set to cross $2 billion in the current fiscal year from $720 million five years ago with over 50% of the mark is already achieved the first half of FY26, officials said citing concerted policy efforts to boost exports of the cash crop as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said, “Indian coffee is becoming very popular” all over the world.
India’s coffee exports saw a 40.37% jump to $1.8 billion in 2024-25 from $1.29 billion in 2023-24 and a double-digit growth on the higher base is expected in 2025-26, driven by key FTAs [free trade agreements], two officials said requesting anonymity. “The recently concluded FTA with the bloc of four-European countries, and the imminent trade deal with the EU have further brightened prospects of coffee exports,” one of them said, citing the PM’s statement on Sunday.
In his 127th episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sunday Modi spoke about Odisha’s ‘koraput’ coffee and said “besides the taste, coffee cultivation is also benefiting people” and “there also are many women whose lives have been pleasantly transformed by coffee” as “Indian coffee is becoming very popular all over the world”. He said that India’s northeast is also progressing in coffee cultivation, which has “further strengthened the identity of Indian coffee worldwide – that’s why coffee lovers say: India’s coffee is coffee at its finest”.
India’s coffee exports have received a significant boost from the operationalization of India’s FTA with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) from October with access to premium coffee consumers in the four EFTA countries -- Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein. India has also signed an FTA with the United Kingdom, and after operationalization of the pact Indian coffee exporters may access the vast UK market. Most of the European countries such as Germany, Italy, France, Belgium and the UK are coffee importers.
“Among the EFTA countries, Switzerland and Norway are high-value markets with strong demand for high quality coffees. The India-EFTA and the India-UK trade deals may provide most favourable market access to Indian coffees in those markets. EFTA members alone import coffee worth $175 million, which is about 3% of the global coffee imports,” a second official said, quoting data from the Coffee Board.
India is the seventh-largest coffee producer globally, according to the US Department of Agriculture after Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Uganda. It is among the top 10 coffee exporters in the over $42 billion world’s market. Its competitors include Brazil. Vietnam, Columbia, and Honduras.
Due to the rise of cafe culture and expanding middle-class, coffee consumption in India is increasing steadily, the official said. Domestic consumption of coffee has increased over 8.3% from 84,000 tonnes in 2012 to 91,000 tonnes in 2023, reflecting a broader shift in drinking habits, he added.
