Tea Board Of India

Small tea growers in Assam, who account for nearly half of the tea grown in this North Eastern state, are staring at uncertainty with the bought leaf tea factories (BLFs) to stop procuring their green leaves from next month over quality compliance regulations. The Assam Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers Association (ABLTMA) had announced shutting down its factories from June one as it is not possible to produce FSSAI-compliant teas from untested green leaves provided by small growers. A Team Board India notification earlier this year made it mandatory for manufacture of only compliant tea by the BLFs. With no testing done of the green leaves, if the made tea is found non-compliant when sent for mandatory public auction, the failed teas will be destroyed with penal action against the BLFs, as per the notification. The small-scale planters, on their part, maintained that they are working on cent per cent compliance by all their members, while urging for more time to ensure it and seeking

The Indian Tea Association (ITA) on Friday reiterated its plea for financial assistance from the Centre to support the struggling Darjeeling tea industry. According to the ITA, the situation in Darjeeling is critical due to decreasing yields and plummeting prices. Without a financial relief package, the survival of the Darjeeling tea industry is in jeopardy, the association said, adding that it has urged the government to consider and act upon a financial revival package endorsed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce in March 2022. "The association has urged the government to extend a financial revival package to the Darjeeling tea sector which has been already endorsed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on commerce in March 2022. This awaits consideration and action", the ITA said. The ITA, quoting Tea Board data, highlighted that adverse weather conditions have affected tea production in Assam and West Bengal, leading to a significant decrease in production. F

It has been a single-point agenda for small tea growers in Assam's Lakhimpur district, along the border with Arunachal Pradesh, before every government for several years allotment of garden land in their names. The repeated pleas have so far not yielded any positive result, though they remain hopeful whenever an election approaches that their demand will finally be met by the new regime. "Most of the areas under tea cultivation here fall under the tribal belt. And hence, we are not getting allotment. We have been repeatedly urging the government to de-notify the area or make provisions for allotment for us as the tribal population in this part is not even 10 per cent," Jatin Chandra Bora, advisor, Lakhimpur District Small Tea Growers Association, said. Mentioning specifically about Bholabari, Dhalpur, Rajgarh, Rangoti and Simojluguri panchayats in western part of Lakhimpur, he said, "As per information from the office of the deputy director of economics and statistics, these ...

Tea Association of India (TAI), a leading body of planters, on Friday sought the release of "pending subsidies" from the Tea Board to carry out developmental activities undertaken at various gardens. The Tea Board has been extending subsidy and financial incentives for undertaking various activities relating to improving production and quality of tea under a scheme covering the period 2007-2017, which was followed by the Medium Term Framework (MTF) from 2017 to 2020, TAI said in a statement. The industry body said gardens under its fold had undertaken substantial developmental activities under the scheme, and a large portion of the amount due to the estates on account of this still remains unreleased by the Tea Board. "The association learns the commerce ministry has stated that with regard to the matter of pending subsidies, Tea Board has informed that all eligible cases where subsidies were sanctioned have been disbursed already... This statement has demoralised the industry as it

Problem acute for prized Darjeeling tea, which is crucial for tea companies' revenue

A major producer pointed out that auction prices were impacting private sale prices

Tea production in the country increased by 12.06 per cent to 182.84 million kg in October this year as compared to 163.15 million kg in the corresponding month last year. According to Tea Board data, production of the crop in West Bengal rose to 54.98 million kg in October, as against 49.75 million kg in the same period in 2022. Assam, the country's largest tea-producing state, also registered a higher crop at 104.26 million kg in October. The state produced 90.72 million kg of tea in October 2022, according to the data. In south India, production was marginally lower at 18.89 million kg in October 2023, as against 18.92 million kg in the same month of the previous calendar year. Category-wise, production of the CTC variety touched 167.72 million kg in October 2023, whereas that of orthodox tea was 12.98 million kg across both north and south India. Green tea production was at 2.14 million kg, the data said. Production by small tea growers (STGs) stood higher at 95.24 million kg

The Tea Board has ordered the closure of manufacturing units in the tea growing areas in North India during winter for a better crop in the first flush of next year. As per the Board's order, the last date for plucking or receiving green leaves for all tea factories in Darjeeling, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand has been put at December 11. While that for Dooars and Terai regions of West Bengal, and Bihar is December 23. The last date for processing of green leaf at the factories in Darjeeling, Sikkim, HP and Uttarakhand has been put at December 13, while that for Terai, Dooars and Bihar is December 26. The order also said that the last date of completion of sorting, packing and moving the packed teas to notified storage areas with invoice marking has been decided to be on December 26 for Darjeeling, Sikkim, HP and Uttarakhand. For Dooars, Terai and Bihar, it is January 6, 2024, for CTC variety and January 11 for the orthodox and green tea varieties. According to the tea

Anshuman Kanoria, chairman, Indian Tea Exporters Association (ITEA), says that India would be fortunate to touch 200 million kg exports this year

Exports of tea from India increased by 14.8 per cent to 140.28 million kilograms in the first eight months of the 2022 calendar year, according to Tea Board data. Tea shipments during the January-August period in 2021 stood at 122.18 million kilograms (mkgs). The CIS countries, including Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, remained the largest importer of Indian tea with 30.56 mkgs in the first eight months of 2022, marginally higher than 29.13 mkgs shipped out to these nations in the year-ago period, the data said. Sources in the industry said that tea exports did not pick up substantially due to shipping and container costs which skyrocketed due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. After the CIS countries, UAE was the second largest importer at 23.84 mkgs, a rise of 157 per cent from 9.27 mkgs in the similar period in 2021. Owing to economic sanctions imposed by the US on Iran, tea shipments to the west Asian country also failed to increase in the first eight months of 2022. Expo

'Tea price trajectory of the last decade reflects a prolonged phase of stagnation in price growth which consequently pushed a large segment of the industry into crisis'

Existing notification bars blending imported tea with GI-tagged Indian varieties; Sources said commerce ministry left it to the Board to take a reasoned call on modification

With two rival bids, the once powerful group that owns the world's largest tea producer is in danger of losing control of its last major asset

A notification banning blends of imported tea in GI-tagged teas has almost pushed Tata Consumer Products, the biggest buyer, out of the market

Data available on the Tea Board website showed that India's production in 2020-2021 had stood at 1,283.03 million kg and volumes at the auctions were around 547 mkg

On exports, Indian tea will aggressively compete with Kenya and Sri Lanka, and also explore markets that have not been aggressively targeted so far

Most companies returned to profits in the June quarter, and indications are that the current quarter, which is typically a good time for tea industry, will be even better

The order will be mandatory for all the gardens in Darjeeling, Sikkim, Assam, Dooars and Terai regions of north Bengal, Tea Board sources said

Indian tea growers should focus more on orthodox tea manufacturing which has a good export market

Strong demand from buyers especially for quality teas supports uptick