The parliamentary standing committee on commerce has underlined the need to establish Japan as an important target market for exports. The committee, in its report on the problems of coffee growers, added that efforts should be made to expand the domestic market, while focusing on increasing the global market.

According to the report, the medium term export strategy for coffee would give a boost to the industry in India and would increase its export share.

The import duty on coffee vending and brewing machines needs to be abolished, the report said, adding that marketing cooperatives like Amul and NDDB would have a larger role in supplying quality coffee at reasonable prices.

In India, the area under coffee cultivation is about 3.25 lakh hectares, mainly in the southern states Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. About 90% of the total coffee is produced in these three states.