The Tea Board has invited tenders from private parties for opening a tea lounge on the first floor of its head office here.
It has also floated tenders for reopening the non-functioning tea lounge at Mumbai, a source of the board said.
"We are approaching private parties for setting up a tea centre at the Kolkata headquarters of Tea Board. We propose that tea lounges be opened with the view to popularise its consumption," he said.
The move comes at a time when private companies like Goodricke and Wagh Bakri have already opened tea lounges in different parts of the country.
Asked about the outlook for the industry in 2019, the source said, "It is good".
The figures for 2018 are still being finalised, he added.