The government on Friday exhorted tea producers across the country to improve quality for raising exports which has remained almost stagnant for more than a decade.
Speaking at the annual general meeting of Indian Tea Association (ITA) virtually, the additional secretary (plantations) with the commerce ministry, Amardeep Singh Bhatia said that the country’s share in global tea exports has slipped from 42 per cent to 12 per cent.
Some of the export markets have been lost owing to inroads made by Kenya and Sri Lanka in those markets, he said.
“There is need to improve the quality of tea. There have been disturbing reports about use of pesticides which is hurting tea exports. It is difficult to raise exports if quality is not improved. The need for this has to come from within the industry, the Tea Board will act as a facilitator,” Bhatia said.
According to the Tea Board Data, India’s tea exports in 2022 stood at 231 million kilogram. It stood at 96.49 million kg in the first six months of the current calendar year.
Bhatia said “The increase in demand for quality teas has to be raised both internationally and domestically. There is need to identify markets where per capita consumption of tea is low. These markets have to be explored.
“Our share in the global tea exports market was 42 per cent, which has slipped to only 12 per cent at the moment. We need to claw back on our position in global tea exports,” he said.
The official said disruptions to the country’s tea exports were caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He also stressed on the need for replantation of old bushes for increasing yield and productivity of labour.
Climate change, he said, is a major challenge which is being faced by the industry at the moment.
Referring to Darjeeling tea, Bhatia said that it is important to preserve and promote the geographical indication (GI) tag which it has earned for its premium quality. The assistance of the West Bengal government is needed for this.
There is also need to move up the value chain for gaining greater share in the export market. India at the moment is mainly exporting bulk tea, Bhatia said.
Tea Board’s role, he said, will be more of a facilitator and the process of reformulation of various schemes for the industry is underway.
“Subsidies cannot be entirely done away and the government is contemplating how this can be reworked upon,” Bhatia added.
Tea Board deputy chairman Saurav Pahari, who too addressed the AGM virtually, said that time has come to engage start-ups in a more meaningful way for increasing exports.
“At present, these start-ups have new linkages with the mainstream tea trade … They have out-of-the box ideas which can be leveraged for brand building,” he said.
Outgoing ITA chairperson Nayantara Palchoudhuri said that the industry is facing problems of financial stress, climate change adversities, rising wages and falling prices.
“There is need for a unified approach to deal with these multifaceted challenges,” she said.
On the Darjeeling tea industry, Palchoudhuri said there is need for a financial package this from the Centre for this.
