Coffee Development Programme in North Eastern Region: Expansion of Coffee

What is the Coffee Development Programme in the North Eastern Region?

The Coffee Development Programme in the North Eastern Region, with its "Expansion of Coffee" component; is a development scheme of the Coffee Board of India, a statutory body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The Coffee Board runs coffee development activity across the country, and this programme is the arm focused specifically on the North Eastern states, where coffee is a relatively new, non-traditional crop with room to expand.

According to the Coffee Board, its development work is delivered through regional and extension offices and through an online subsidy portal (coffeeboard.gov.in/subsidy/), which registered growers use to claim support. The North Eastern programme aims to bring more area under coffee, improve the yield and quality of existing plantations, and build the incomes of small and tribal growers in the region.

Key features

• Targeted at coffee development in the North Eastern states, a non-traditional coffee zone.
• Support is delivered as subsidy on defined activities such as new planting, maintenance/consolidation and quality upgradation.
• Delivered through Coffee Board extension staff and an online subsidy portal.
• Focused on small and tribal growers rather than large estates.

How much support does the programme provide?

Support under the programme is given on a unit-cost basis, a fixed subsidy is attached to each defined development activity (for example, establishing new coffee area, maintaining young plantations, or upgrading processing and quality). The current unit costs and subsidy rates are notified by the Coffee Board on its subsidy portal and are revised from plan period to plan period.

Because these rates change over time and by activity, this guide does not quote a single rupee figure. A grower should confirm the latest applicable rates directly with the Coffee Board extension office covering their district before planning an outlay. Support is released to the grower's own bank account.

Who is eligible for the coffee expansion programme?

You can apply if:

• You are a coffee grower in a North Eastern state, cultivating on your own or community land.
• You register with the Coffee Board's extension/regional unit in your area.
• Your plantation meets the technical conditions the Coffee Board sets for the activity you are claiming (for example, minimum area or survival of planted seedlings).

You cannot apply if:

• You are a grower in a traditional coffee state (such as Karnataka, Kerala or Tamil Nadu) — you fall under the Coffee Board's other development schemes, not this North Eastern component.
• You are not registered with the Coffee Board for the plantation in question.
• You are seeking a personal cash benefit unconnected to actual coffee cultivation. This is a crop-development subsidy tied to verified activity, not an income-support payment.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the North Eastern coffee programme

There is no anonymous online form for a personal grant; support flows through the Coffee Board's grower-registration and extension system. Follow these steps:

1. Approach the Coffee Board extension / regional office covering your district in the North East, and register as a coffee grower.
2. Discuss the activity you want support for: new planting, maintenance or quality upgradation, and confirm the current unit cost and conditions with the extension officer.
3. Undertake the plantation activity as advised, keeping records and bills for inputs where required.
4. File the subsidy claim through the Coffee Board's online subsidy portal with the help of the extension office; the officer verifies the plantation on the ground.
5. Receive the subsidy in your bank account once the claim is approved.

Where to get help

The Coffee Board of India publishes scheme, subsidy and contact information on its official portal at coffeeboard.gov.in, including the online subsidy login used to process grower claims. For the North Eastern programme, the practical point of contact is the Coffee Board regional/extension office in your state, which handles registration, verification and the subsidy claim. Growers should rely on the Coffee Board's own notified unit costs rather than figures quoted by intermediaries.