Tea exports from India, the world's largest grower, rose by 14 per cent to Rs 2,721 crore in 2009-10 fiscal on high global prices and downfall in shipments from other exporting countries, according to the Tea Board.
In terms of volume, overseas shipments increased to 200 million kg from 190 million kg in the review period, it said.
"The exports jumped to Rs 2,721 crore in FY'10 from Rs 2,381 crore in the previous year, as shortages in tea exporting countries like Kenya and Sri Lanka accounted higher demand for Indian tea," a Tea Board official told PTI.
The export value rose also due to higher unit price. A premium quality Indian tea fetched as much as Rs 160 per kg, against Rs 146 per kg in the review period, he said.
The official also observed that the exports from South India was much better than Northern states, as supply in the former had improved due to good monsoon.
According to official data, the shipments from plains of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala surged by almost 17 per cent to 98.42 million kg in FY'10, compared to 84.33 million kg in the year-ago period.
However, the shipments from Assam and West Bengal, which harvest the best quality tea leaves in the world, declined to 101 million kg from 106 million kg in the review period.
India exports CTC (crush-tear-curl) variety of tea mainly to Egypt, Pakistan and the UK and the premium orthodox variety of tea to Iraq, Iran and Russia.
At present, India is facing competition in exporting CTC from Kenya and other African countries, while for orthodox variety from Sri Lanka and Indonesia.