Coffee export target for FY11 exceeds by 44%

India surpassed its coffee export target for the 2010-11 by 44%, shipping 325,116 tonne of the brew overseas during the financial year, Parliament was informed today.

The government had set a target for export of 225,000 tonne of coffee in the fourth year (2010-11) of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12), Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The export target for coffee in the 11th Plan has been fixed at 250,000 tonne annually, he added.

India produced 299,000 tonne of coffee in the 2010-11 fiscal, 1,000 tonne lower than the target set for the period, the minister said.

Last fiscal, 22,545 coffee estates were established across the country against a target of 20,000. In the entire 11th Plan, the target is to set up 100,000 estates, he said.

The government is also implementing several schemes for promotion of coffee in non-traditional areas (NTA) and the North-East Region (NER), Scindia added.

While 4,710 hectares of land was brought under coffee plantation in NTA and other tribal sectors, another 303 hectares was covered under the brew in the NER, he said.

The country consumed 108,000 tonne of coffee last financial year, the minister said.