STATES AND UNION TERRITORIES OF INDIA
KERALA - Info / Snippets
* 26 Mar 2026
Kerala, especially the district of Kollam located on the southwest coast of India, holds a historic and central
position in India’s cashew industry. The state has been a traditional
stronghold for both cashew cultivation and processing. Kollam is often referred to as the Cashew Capital of the World.
For decades, Kollam has been the nerve centre for cashew processing,
grading, value addition, and export, employing thousands of workers,
predominantly women. Processing units in Kollam have historically set
global standards for cashew kernel quality and food safety.
Maharashtra is the largest producer of cashew in India in terms of total
production. Other major cashew-producing states include Andhra Pradesh,
Odisha, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These states supply raw
cashew nuts that are processed and traded through major centres like
Kollam.
Unlike some states that depend solely on domestic production, Kerala’s
cashew processing sector is heavily dependent on the import of Raw
Cashew Nuts (RCN). With domestic cultivation unable to meet the
processing capacity, RCN is regularly imported from countries like Ivory
Coast, Ghana, Tanzania, Guinea-Bissau, and Indonesia.
Source: ksacc.kerala.gov.in
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