New Delhi [India], October 26 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi's latest monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat' on Sunday, among other things, found space about the increasing popularity of Indian coffee among global beverage lovers and how people here in India are taking coffee plantations for livelihoods.

Joining the thread from where he had left last year, talking about Araku coffee of Andhra Pradesh in a similar monthly Mann ki Baat episode, PM Modi today commended the Koraput coffee of Odisha.

Indian coffee is becoming very popular all over the world, the prime minister said, listing out several places in India where coffee plantations are in abundance.

'Be it Chikmagalur, Coorg and Hassan in Karnataka; the areas of Pulney, Shevaroy, Nilgiri and Annamalai in Tamil Nadu; the Biligiri region on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border; or the areas of Wayanad, Travancore and Malabar in Kerala - the diversity of Indian coffee is truly remarkable,' the prime minister said.

The Prime Minister said the mentions of coffee in Mann ki Baat stemmed from many people from Odisha sharing their feelings with him about Koraput coffee.

'They wrote to me saying that Koraput coffee should also be discussed in 'Mann Ki Baat'.'

Prime Minister Modi said he was told that Koraput coffee tastes amazing, and not only that; besides the taste, coffee cultivation is also benefiting people.

'There are people in Koraput who are cultivating coffee through their sheer passion. They were doing handsome jobs in the corporate world... but they liked coffee so much that they entered this field and are now successfully working in it. There also are many women whose lives have been pleasantly transformed by coffee,' he said, lauding the people of Koraput.

North-East states are also progressing in coffee cultivation, he further said.

In a nutshell, he concluded that these efforts are further strengthening Indian coffee's identity worldwide.

'India's coffee is coffee at its finest. It is brewed in India and loved by the World,' the prime minister said, in a way, phrasing what coffee lovers tend to say as they sip Indian coffee.

Over the centuries, the cultivation of coffee in India has evolved from a humble practice to a thriving industry, with the country's coffee now widely loved across the globe.

India is now the seventh-largest coffee producer globally with exports reaching $1.29 billion in FY 2023-24, almost double the $719.42 million in 2020-21, according to the commerce ministry.

India's coffee exports have grown significantly due to the increasing global demand for its rich and unique flavours, the commerce ministry had said in a statement in early 2025. Approximately three-fourths of India's coffee production consists of Arabica and Robusta beans. These are primarily exported as unroasted beans. However, there is a growing demand for value-added products like roasted and instant coffee, further fueling the export boom.

India's coffee is primarily grown in the ecologically rich Western and Eastern Ghats, areas famous for their biodiversity. Karnataka leads in production, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu. (ANI)