New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the 127th episode of his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat on Sunday, turned his attention to India’s growing coffee culture, highlighting the increasing global recognition of Koraput coffee from Odisha.

“You all know about my association with tea, but today I thought, why not discuss coffee in Mann Ki Baat?” PM Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that many people from Odisha’s Koraput district had written to him expressing pride in the region’s coffee. “I have been 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,” he added.

Praising India’s diverse coffee-growing regions, the Prime Minister said, “Indian coffee is becoming very popular all over the world. That’s why coffee lovers say: India’s coffee is coffee at its finest. It is brewed in India and loved by the world.”

PM Modi also mentioned key coffee belts across the southern states. “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,” he said.

He further noted the expansion of coffee cultivation in the North East, underscoring the growing opportunities for farmers in the region.

Indian coffee, traditionally shade-grown and intercropped with spices, is renowned for its mild, full-bodied flavour and distinctive aroma, often associated with South India’s beloved “filter coffee.”

Mann Ki Baat, launched on 3 October 2014, is Prime Minister Modi’s monthly radio address to the nation, broadcast on the last Sunday of every month. The programme, aired through more than 500 All India Radio stations, is available in 22 Indian languages, 29 dialects, and 11 foreign languages including French, Chinese, Arabic and Swahili.