Plantation Crops: tea, coffee, tobacco, and spices exports rise $9.16 billion in FY25
India’s export of key plantation crops—spices, coffee, tobacco, and tea—reached a record $9.16 billion in 2024–25, up 17.1% from $7.82 billion the previous year. These crops together made up nearly 16% of India’s total agricultural exports, which were valued at $50 billion in 2023–24.
According to the latest data from the Commerce Ministry:
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Spices exports grew moderately by 4.7%, reaching $4.45 billion in FY25, up from $4.25 billion.
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Tea exports rose 10.8% to $0.92 billion, compared to $0.83 billion last year.
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Tobacco exports showed a strong growth of 36.6%, reaching $1.98 billion from $1.45 billion.
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Coffee exports jumped by 40.3% to $1.81 billion from $1.29 billion.
Also Read | UPASI wants more fund allocation for plantation industry in Union Budget
Tobacco’s Strong Performance
An industry expert highlighted that tobacco exports, which had been between $0.88 billion and $0.98 billion since 2014–15, crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2022–23. In FY25, they nearly hit $2 billion.
“India’s overall agri exports dipped in 2023–24 to $50 billion from $54.78 billion in 2022–23. However, they recovered in FY25, according to early estimates. The government should focus on products like raw tobacco, which have huge export potential, to help meet farm export targets,” the expert said.
Raw tobacco exports rose sharply to $1.05 billion in 2023–24 from $822.2 million in 2022–23. In contrast, exports of manufactured tobacco (like cigarettes) showed minimal growth, reaching $397 million from $391 million. The government has not yet released separate figures for raw and manufactured tobacco for FY25.
India’s top five export destinations for raw tobacco in 2023–24 were Belgium, the UAE, Indonesia, Russia, and Egypt.
As per quick estimates from the Commerce Ministry, exports of 13 major agricultural product categories grew by more than 9%, reaching $44.4 billion in FY25, up from $40.65 billion in FY24. These estimates, however, do not include several export items.
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