Tea is India's more renowned product

Indians drink less coffee now because of what experts call the invasion of colas and an increase in tea drinking.

Only 20% of the coffee produced in India - 300,600 tonnes - goes for domestic consumption.

The rest is exported, mainly to Western countries.

Indian coffee has a heritage going back nearly 450 years but it accounts only for about 4.5% of the global market share.

'Have a cuppa'

As part of efforts to promote the drink, piping hot coffee is being served in some of the pubs that dot the Bangalore area.

It is well-known as India's silicon valley, but it is also described as the pub capital of India.

Plantations in the Nilgiri hills

"This is to make coffee popular among youth who frequent the pubs," said Sharda Subramaniam, a senior official of the government-run Coffee Board that is co-hosting the event.

"Have one cuppa for the road. That is the message we are trying to drive home."

To add a dash of colour, vintage cars are driving around Bangalore, spreading the message of the aroma.

Well before the festival was thought of, the Indian coffee sector set up a chain of Coffee Day shops in cities across the country to attract the well-heeled and the trendy to coffee-drinking.

Another chain, Baristas, has also set up shops which have already become popular hangouts.

Before this, coffee was considered a traditional drink for the oldies. But that image is slowly changing.

"Cafe Revolution" is how the trend is described by a coffee expert Harjish Bijoor.

"The cafe is becoming ubiquitous in its presence across our cities," he says.

A large number of college students and software professionals frequent these cafes.

In many they can enjoy access to the internet.

Small growers

The festival, with all its pomp and grandeur, may provide the necessary impetus for smaller growers worst hit by the global coffee price slump, to improve their produce.

Smaller growers account for 40% of the nearly 100,000 planters in India's coffee producing states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

They hope to put the years-long crisis behind them and start afresh.

"The fall in global prices has really affected them adversely. We hope this festival will bring a level of cheer in the industry," says festival convenor Anil Bhandari.

If successful, the festival may become an annual feature.