Bhubaneswar: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik Friday launched a dedicated e-commerce platform for Koraput coffee on International Coffee Day today. The website is www.koraputcoffee.org.

Launching the website, Patnaik said that Koraput coffee possesses high quality and can be developed to be a famous brand both inside and outside the country. He complimented the coffee growers and Tribal Development Corporation.

The chief minister said that in just two years Koraput coffee has carved a niche for itself. For the benefit of tribal livelihood the State government has undertaken multiple initiatives for promotion of Koraput coffee. In addition to marketing of Koraput coffee by TDCCOL, this year Coffee Development Trust at Koraput has taken up to 300 hactares of new and old coffee plantations.

The chief minister also announced two coffee outlets, named as Koraput café, one as at Koraput district and another at Niladri Beach, Puri.

Chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra, development commissioner Predeep Kumar Jena, principal secretary scheduled tribe and scheduled caste development department Ranjana Chopra, and managing director Tribal Development Manasi Nimbal attended the launching ceremony. Collector Koraput with district level officers and coffee growers participated through video conferencing.

It may be mentioned here that coffee farming is transforming the lives in the tribal hinterland of Odisha’s Koraput district. Koraput, which is located at a height of 3,000 feet above sea level, is ideal for coffee cultivation due to its cool climate and rainfall. This homegrown coffee is a single origin 100 per cent Arabica coffee which will be competing with specialty coffee market in the near future.