India can no longer pride itself on being the sole producer of the champagne of teas - the Darjeeling variety. Drinkers across the globe have discovered an identical aroma and light golden liquor of another origin. Already battling stagnant production and falling prices, the Darjeeling planters are now facing direct competition from Nepal.
"Currently, Nepalese production of good quality orthodox tea is only a fraction of Darjeeling output. But, what concerns Darjeeling is the Nepalese target to have at least 65 per cent of decade-end production in the form of whole leaf orthodox tea," an official of the Darjeeling Planters Association told Business Standard.
Last year, Nepal had announced an ambitious growth plan in its national tea policy. The policy of the Himalayan kingdom says a productivity improvement campaign and growing tea in new areas will boost production to more than 46 million kg by the end of the decade from less than 8 million kg now.
Though the tea would not be sold as "Darjeeling tea", the industry which is already reeling under competition from Sri Lanka, would have similar problems at hand. Due to cheaper prices, many of India's conservative buyers have shifted to Sri Lanka to source the beverage.
Unlike other tea regions in India, Darjeeling produces only the orthodox variety and the tea produced during the season's first two flushes is almost all sold in the world market at fancy prices.
Industry sources say that a large portion of the Nepalese leaves plucked at the gardens in Ilam are processed by Darjeeling planters and brought to their factories through the open border.
"Not only are the leaves from Nepal processed across the border and then sold as Darjeeling tea, the ready orthodox tea is sometimes blended with the latter to improve its flavour," the sources added.
Germany and Japan, the two most important destinations for Darjeeling tea, have lately discovered that some orthodox tea can be sourced from Nepal at attractive rates.
A Calcutta-based broker said: "The Nepalese hills in the district of Ilam adjoining Darjeeling have the ideal climate, with the cool Himalayan wind and the soil structure to grow top class tea, which German and Japanese buyers consider to be a substitute for Darjeeling tea."
Nepal exports more than 95 per cent of its orthodox production of about 700,000 kg, while annual output of 7 million kg of CTC tea falls short of domestic requirements, which are met by imports.
The country has been growing tea for nearly a century and a half but much of the industry is too young. For many years, the Nepalese planters sourced clones from gardens and nurseries in Darjeeling.
