Pricing to quality: West Bengal GoM to look into tea industry woes

A group of West Bengal ministers will look into the problems facing the tea industry, particularly the issue of pricing, productivity, and quality.

Speaking at the biennial general meeting of the Tea Association of India (TAI), Smaraki Mahapatra, Land and Land Reforms Secretary, said that very recently a group of ministers was set up for tea, which was earlier not there. “A lot of issues which are being raised about pricing and quality are getting discussed.”

She mentioned that the government wanted to look into why productivity and pricing were issues. Mahapatra is an invitee member to assist the committee.

The GoM would also be interacting with stakeholders of the industry to deliberate on the issues facing the industry and where the West Bengal government can help.

Mahapatra also urged the industry, which was going through a tough time, to look at tea tourism as an additional revenue stream.

Addressing the meeting, Ajay Jalan, President, Tea Association of India, said that the primary challenge was that tea prices had not kept pace with increasing costs.

“This cliché has led many to question its validity, not realizing that many estates have shut down, changed hands, or survive only through subsidies from their group companies with other business interests. The situation is so dire that we fear a lack of future interest in the industry,” the president of the association said.

The main reasons for the decline, Jalan said, were the demand-supply gap, market dynamics, and positioning of tea. “The oversupply's impact is deeply felt with suppressed prices, struggling to meet production costs, hitting our large organized growers particularly hard. This challenge extends beyond economics; it directly affects the livelihoods of millions connected to our industry.”

“To establish demand-supply equilibrium, we advocate for restricting supply in the short term and creating demand for teas in the medium and long term,” Jalan further added.