India’s spice exports breached 1.8m tonnes last year

Kochi: India remains world's largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices, with exports crossing 1.8 million tonnes valued at over $4 billion last year, former G20 Sherpa and former CEO of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant said here on Monday. He called on spice industry to shift decisively from bulk exports to high-value, branded and technology-driven products.He was inaugurating the four-day International Spice Conference (ISC 2026), organised by All-India Spices Exporters Forum (AISEF). Ninth edition of the conference, held under the theme Spice 360 – Getting Future Ready, is expected to focus on strengthening compliance systems, building resilient supply chains and expanding collaboration between regulators and industry across producing and importing regions.Kant outlined five priorities for the sector: push aggressive value addition in blends, nutraceuticals and branded products; deploy artificial intelligence and data across cultivation, processing and quality systems; build climate-resilient farming models; treat sustainability and traceability as competitive advantages rather than compliance burdens; and place small farmers, who account for over 80% of spice cultivation, at the centre of all policy and market interventions."With right technology, partnerships and policy support, we can make the sector truly future-ready," he said.