Coffee exports at over Rs 1,000 cr so far this fiscal

India exported 1.08 lakh tonnes of coffee, valued at Rs 1,068 crore, till August 2 in the current fiscal, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

During 2009-10, the country exported 2.04 lakh tonnes of coffee worth Rs 2,168 crore, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a written reply.

The minister said steps have been taken to boost the production by improving productivity through replanting of senile plantations with high yielding varieties.

Besides, the area under coffee in non-traditional areas was expanded and there was an aggressive transfer of technology for increasing the coffee production.

In order to improve exports, financial incentives were given to exporters to ship high value coffee to far away key markets like the US, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Scindia said.

India is the fifth-largest coffee producer in the world and the third-largest in Asia.