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Kamal Chopra

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TOP BRASS

Young Chairman of the Coffee Board G V Krishna Rau has many plans up his sleeve like introducing Bio Technology in coffee cultivation to ensure that the Indian Coffee goes places. "Our focus would be to increase the export of value added coffees to realize enhanced export realization while developing differentiated coffee products to offer a variety of choice to the consumer", he disclosed.
According to Rau "our communication and promotion initiatives in the last few years have helped in positioning the strengths of our coffees appropriately before the international coffee fraternity due to which washed Robusta variety currently fetches a premium of over 350 US dollars per tonne."

In an interview to the "whispersinthecorridors.com" he said that Indian Robusta has also got the recognition as a vital component in a good cup of espresso, the fastest growing segment in key international markets. However, he said "in spite of these positive developments, we cannot afford to be complacent in our endeavor."

G V Krishna Rau foresaw some growth for decaffeinated and organic coffees in the Asian and Indian market adding "but I don't expect it to be a dominant segment." According to him on an average the Board spends about Rs.50 lakhs per annum for labour welfare measures.

1/Since the Coffee Board has slashed its staff, then how do you cope up with the research work?

About five years ago, Indian Arabica used to attract over 10 cents/lb discount at New York futures terminal. Today our Arabica is fetching on par prices. Indian Robustas are presently attracting highest premiums for both washed and unwashed types in the international terminal. This essentially means that our communication and promotion initiatives in the last few years have helped in positioning the strengths of our coffees appropriately before the international coffee fraternity. However, there is still ample scope to improve the quality of our coffees specially by augmenting the production of washed Robustas which currently fetches a premium of over 350 US dollars per tonne. Indian Robusta has also got the recognition as a vital component in a good cup of espresso, the fastest growing segment in key international markets. In spite of these positive developments, we cannot afford to be complacent in our endeavor. We need to make sustained efforts in producing, promoting and marketing good quality coffees to remain competitive vis a vis other producing origins

2/Which is best variety of coffee? Do you think that after a decade or two Decaffeinated coffee and Organic coffees will capture Asian and Indian market?
Arabica and Robusta are the two varieties of coffee commercially cultivated the world over including India. While Arabica is known for its flavour and aroma, the Robusta is known for its body and strength in the cup. In the international arena, While all Robustas are classified as a single category, Arabica is classified as Colombian milds, Brazilian milds and Other milds. Indian Arabica is grouped under Other milds.

With regard to varieties, it is very difficult to pin point a particular variety as the best coffee as the performance of a given variety depend on many parameters like elevation, aspect, soil profile, rain fall pattern, humidity and adoption of cultural practices under Indian conditions. Because of this, the Board recommends different varieties for different locations depending upon the suitability and adoptability of varieties in particular locations.
As far growth for decaffeinated and organic coffees in the Asian and Indian market is concerned, there will be some growth but I don't expect it to be a dominant segment.

3/ Does the Coffee Board carry out welfare activities for workers engaged in coffee plantations?
Coffee Board is implementing a labour welfare plan scheme which provides for (1) Grant of educational stipends to meritorious students i.e. children/ dependents of coffee plantations/processing workers (2) Grant of donations for medical aid and equipments to hospitals /primary health centers in coffee growing regions and (3) Financial assistance to improve infrastructure in educational institutions. On an average the Board spends about Rs.50 lakhs per annum for labour welfare measures.

4/ Coffee consumption is going up in India. In the wake of this how growth can be ensured so that domestic need was met while jacking up exports?
We have flagged the issue of enhancing the domestic coffee market as a priority in our XI Plan. The International Coffee Organization (ICO) has also recognized the fact that, only by increasing domestic coffee market in the producing countries,, the problem of supply demand mismatch can be addressed suitably. In the Indian context, enhanced domestic coffee consumption would not only help in insulating the grower realizations but also would generate employment opportunities. For example, every additional tonne of coffee consumed in the country would provide at least ten new jobs.

Our present coffee production is placed about three lakh tonnes (Post Blossom estimate for 2006-07). On account of limitations of further available area in the country suitable for coffee cultivation and also the limitations in increasing the current productivity levels beyond a certain point, our production projection for XI Plan terminal year would be around 3.35 lakh tonnes. Our projection for the domestic coffee consumption is 1.20 lakh tonnes (from the present level of 80,000 tonnes) by the terminal year of the XI Plan. This would mean that only about 2.15 lakh tonnes of Indian coffee is available for exports which is almost on par with the present level of exports. However, our focus on the export front would be to maximize value for coffee exports. In this regard, our focus would be to increase the export of value added coffees to realize enhanced export realization.

5/ In which new areas Indian Coffee Board is going to enter?
As far as new areas are concerned, our focus would be to develop differentiated coffee products to offer a variety of choice to the consumer. This would not only attract a wider section of consumers but also increase the visibility of coffee.

6/ Where do you find the Indian coffee when compared to the global trade from other countries?
About five years ago, Indian Arabica used to attract over 10 cents/lb discount at New York futures terminal. Today our Arabica is fetching on par prices. Indian Robustas are presently attracting highest premiums for both washed and unwashed types in the international terminal. This essentially means that our communication and promotion initiatives in the last few years have helped in positioning the strengths of our coffees appropriately before the international coffee fraternity. However, there is still ample scope to improve the quality of our coffees specially by augmenting the production of washed Robustas which currently fetches a premium of over 350 US dollars per tonne. Indian Robusta has also got the recognition as a vital component in a good cup of espresso, the fastest growing segment in key international markets. In spite of these positive developments, we cannot afford to be complacent in our endeavor. We need to make sustained efforts in producing, promoting and marketing good quality coffees to remain competitive vis a vis other producing origins

7/ What innovative ideas have been adopted to arrest dwindling production of Arabica coffee?
For the past one decade or so, the Arabica production in the country have remained more or less stagnant at around one lakh tonnes. This is in spite of the fact that, total Arabica area in the country moved up from the level of 1.4 lakh hectare to 1.80 lakh hectare during the past 10 years. The reasons for this stagnation are (1) Large presence of senile Arabica blocks (about 60,000 hectares) which are past their economic age limits (2) Death of millions of Arabica plants in the past 4-5 years owing to Stem Borer menace - Roughly over 10,000 hectares of area have been replanted in the past 4 years which are yet to come to bearing (3) Impact of coffee crisis in the last 4 -5 years owing to which growers reduced farm inputs to reduce losses which negatively impacted the farm productivity (4) Very low productivity levels prevailing in the coffee farms in Non traditional areas like Andhra/ Orissa and North East Region and (5) Limitations in increasing productivity levels in Arabica farms under Indian conditions. The Coffee Board has recognized these issues and is proposing the following initiatives.

1. Put in place a suitable Replanting scheme with appropriate financial incentives backed with credit facility to motivate growers to convert senile Arabica blocks into productive blocks
2. Collaborative research efforts in the XI Plan to bring about synergy in the frontier areas like Bio technology to speed up developing superior plant materials with enhanced productivity and quality potential as well as tolerance to pests and diseases specially the stem borer and leaf rust.
3. Intensive drive to combat the Stem Borer with active participation of grower bodies.
Through above initiatives, it would be possible to stabilize Arabica coffee production in the country at around 1.5 lakh tonnes in the next 8-10 years.
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Mandal to continue as CS Jharkhand
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Amrit Lugun joins MEA
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HRC in Karnataka
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Raghavan appointed Vice-Chairman CAT
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Name of Dasgupta and Pradeep Singh also came up
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Justice Balakrishnan to be CJI of SC
Justice K G Balakrishnan will take over as the next Chief Justice of India on January 14 next year. He would succeed Y K Sabharwal.

Rakesh Saxena is DRM Delhi
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Anoop Kumar is PS
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IAS reshuffle in Punjab
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IPS postings in Madhya Pradesh
Pawan jain has been appointed MD of the Police Housing Corporation.P R Mathure will now be IG AJAK.

Mir to return from Jeddah
Abdul Rashid Mir who is on deputation to CGI Jeddah is returning to the parent J & K Government. On return he will be posted as Additional Commissioner, Kashmir.

Tripathi completes Doctorate Fellow Programme
Deepak Tripathi, IRSME, Director I&L/RDSO/Mumbai, has completed Doctorate Fellow Programme from NITIE, Mumbai, in the area of Operations and Quality Management.

Why IRS do not get DS post ?
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Harvard Professor to get award
George Whitesides will be given UICT alumni Association Dhirubhai Ambani Lifetime Achievement Award 2006 for innovation and outstanding contribution to chemical sciences globally.

New IIT for Andhra Pradesh
It is learnt that an Indian Institute of Technology will be set up in Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh.

Rangaswami is Sri Ramachandra University VC
Dr S Rangaswami has been appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Sri Ramachandra University.

Sarma is new CS of Assam
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FORUM

Raise retirement age of SC Judges
It is anomalous to increase the retirement age of CAT Chairman without increasing the retirement age of Supreme Court Judges from 65 to 68.Even otherwise there is a long felt need to raise the retirement age of Supreme Court Judges. Government and the Pay Commission must consider this seriously.
R S Rathore

ISS fraternity !
With regard to fraternity in Central Services, I want to submit that in ISS, one highly competent SAG level officer lost one of his two daughters recently in most unfortunate circumstances and still he was not posted to place where his family is residing even when a post was available there. One officer was forced to join there quickly. No consideration was given to his repeated requests and the cadre is sleeping over his representation. Even his service colleagues, who are involved in cadre management are not helping in such grave situation.
Richa Sharma
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CORPORATE

Khan appointed Director by Unitech
Former Chairman of the J & K Bank, M Y Khan, has been appointed Director of Unitech -a real Estate Company .

Harsh Bahadur to head Reliance Retail
Harsh Bahadur, former India country manager of German company Metro Cash & Carry, is joining Reliance Retail as president and chief executive of the company's cash and carry vertical.

Sanjay Bhatia is President of PHDCC
Sanjay Bhatia has been elected new President of the PHD Chamber of Commerce.

Sanjay Verma is MD
Sanjay Verma, joint MD, Cushman & wakefield India, an international real estate consultancy firm, has moved up the organisation ladder. He will take over as executive MD, South Asia.

Nivasarkar likely to get another role at NASSCOM
Ameet Nivsarkar, who was recently appointed as VP of Nasscom to oversee research and technology initiatives, is likely to be assigned some responsibilities of Sunil Mehta, another VPP who passed away.

Ali is President of Green Park Hotels
Aijaz Ali has been appointed President of Green Park Hotels.