Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Saturday interacted with representatives of the tea industry, and assured them that the Centre will take necessary steps to resolve the issues faced by the sector. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Industry Minister Bimal Bora were also present on the occasion along with stakeholders, including buyers, producers and small tea growers from various states. Goyal said he has taken cognisance of the challenges faced by the industry, and he will hold further consultations to resolve the issues. Sarma said the state government is cognisant of the macro challenges confronting Assam's tea industry and its solutions require a collaborative approach. I am extremely grateful to Hon'ble Union Minister Shri @PiyushGoyal ji for patiently hearing the stakeholders of the tea industry and taking a positive approach to resolve their issues. Thank you Piyush Goyal ji for your valuable time, the chief minister wrote on X. North Easter
About 75 to 80 per cent of tea consumption has shifted to the packaged format
Assam Chief Secretary Ravi Kota on Saturday called for concerted efforts to revitalise the tea industry by focussing on promoting quality over quantity. Addressing the 10th Annual General Meeting of the Federation of All India Tea Traders Association (FAITTA), he urged the stakeholders to ensure safe and quality tea. He also expressed concern over the ongoing trend of selling tea products at low prices and stated that it must be addressed immediately for the economic well-being of lakhs of small tea growers and tea garden workers across Assam. Kota also urged packers to promote high-quality teas with the government taking a firm stand by supporting the closure of production within November 30 to prevent the production of poor-quality teas. He said the Assam government has implemented several initiatives to ensure that tea as India's national beverage remains safe and its sales processes transparent. The state government remains committed to the tea industry and all associated ...
A special team of Tea Board officials inspected several gardens in North Bengal to determine the quality of leaves manufactured in these estates. An official of the Tea Board told PTI that several samples have been collected from these estates and their quality will be determined. "The operation was conducted at various tea gardens in North Bengal over the last several days on a large scale. Tea Board has collected samples from these estates and future course of action will be determined as per provisions of the Tea Marketing Control Order (TMCO)," the official said. President of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Association (CISTA) Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty said "We welcome the action taken by Tea Board in inspecting several gardens of North Bengal. We demand that exemplary action be taken against these entities so that it becomes a deterrent in future". Chakraborty said CISTA had come to learn that some tea gardens are procuring tea waste from Assam and mixing it with .
According to a Reuters report, tea prices have been soaring and are expected to stay high as heatwaves and floods during the peak harvesting season slash output in key producing regions
Associations of tea producers in Asia and Africa have flagged concerns over the global mismatch of demand and supply and called for an early restoration of equilibrium, according to a statement issued by a planters' body on Friday. In a meeting of the stakeholders of the global tea industry, recently held in Dubai, the associations also addressed the issue of quality and long-term sustainability of the sector. Indian Tea Association (ITA) chairman Hemant Bangur said that the global tea industry is facing a demand-supply mismatch as production continues to outpace demand. Representatives of ITA, East African Trade Association (EATTA), independent tea producers' body of Kenya, and tea associations of Malawi, Bangladesh and Uganda attended the meeting. They voiced concern over stagnating consumption demand in Europe and Asia, the ITA said in a statement. Bangur said, "Africa with its growing population and rising income has the potential to become one of the largest markets for black
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
Citing Tea Board data, the association said that North Indian tea production from January to March 2024 was down by more than 21 million kilograms
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 ...
Problem acute for prized Darjeeling tea, which is crucial for tea companies' revenue
Some packet tea players are reportedly putting pressure on leaf factories to oppose the proposed 100 per cent dust grade auction regulation
The land requirement for the project is about 10-12 acres. The SMPK would hand over the lease and the infrastructure would be developed by the state government
While tea prices remained stagnant, wages of tea garden workers increased significantly in the last five years
Anshuman Kanoria, chairman, Indian Tea Exporters Association (ITEA), says that India would be fortunate to touch 200 million kg exports this year
TROUBLE IN THE BREW: Scanty rainfall, pest attacks, low prices, and muted demand from some export markets
'Any additional revenue stream welcome,' says the company that has estates in several states
'As of now, there has been no confirmation from the authorities and the response from the embassy in Tehran is also taking time'
Signs deal with Dhunseri group for the last four estates it currently owns
Revenues from operations at Rs 425.06 crore were lower by 13.93% from the same period last year
'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'