Coffee Board to Train 1 Lakh SHG Women as Karnataka Plans 2,500 ‘Akka Cafes’
- Saritha Devaiah Ballachanda
- 11 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Bengaluru: In a major push to empower women and promote coffee culture, the Coffee Board of India has partnered with the National Livelihood Mission (NLM) to train one lakh women from self-help groups (SHGs) to run coffee kiosks across Karnataka.
As part of this initiative, the state government has announced plans to set up 2,500 ‘Akka Cafes’, which will be operated exclusively by SHG women.
The project, led by the Department of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihoods, is backed by a budget of ₹25 crore. This allocation, announced by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the 2025 state budget, will cover the cost of fabricating, installing, and commissioning the kiosks, as well as training the women entrepreneurs.
The initiative is intended to boost rural employment and encourage inclusive and sustainable growth. A tender has already been floated to set up these cafes, which will be rolled out in two phases. The pilot phase will see the launch of 50 fully-equipped cafés in both urban and rural areas. Women operating these cafés will be eligible for grants of up to ₹15 lakh for infrastructure and operational setup.
From brews to bites: SHG-run cafés offer authentic flavours
Each Akka Cafe will serve a variety of coffee beverages, alongside regional snacks and meals, with an emphasis on hygiene, quality, and local flavours. Two such cafes — one on Kempegowda Road in Bengaluru’s Gandhinagar and another in Devanahalli — are already up and running.
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The Coffee Board, through its Atal Incubation Center at the Central Coffee Research Institute (AIC-CCRI-CED), will serve as the nodal agency for training and monitoring. Initially, 400 women will be trained at the Coffee Board headquarters in Bengaluru to become master trainers. These women will then pass on their knowledge at the taluk and village levels, covering essential skills like filter coffee preparation, café management, and entrepreneurship.
“This programme is designed to nurture SHG women into confident business owners,” said an official from the department. “Since its inception, Sanjeevini–NLM has mobilised more than 35 lakh women into SHGs, and over 50,000 micro-enterprises are currently functioning with NLM’s support.”
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