Exim Bank's latest study titled 'Vanilla and its Potential in India" observed that with certain policy intervention by Government of India and with more and more private and public partnership, India can emerge as significant player in the global vanilla industry.

At its request, Spices Board was permitted to undertake development of vanilla and is engaged in this endeavour to add another item to the spice export basket. It has only few exclusive vanilla related programmes and they are supply of subsidized planting materials and on farm curing aids.

Having known the export potential of vanilla Spices Board during IX plan took up a programme to popularize the crop in Kerala and Karnataka. As a result by the end of the plan period about 320 hectares were brought under cultivation. The programme was extended with a targeted area of 5000 hectares for the X plan.

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