New Delhi, Nov 10 (FN Bureau) Tea Board has sought an assistance of Rs 1000 crore from the Union Ministry of Commerce for boosting the tea production qualitatively for the small growers, who contribute 52 per cent share of total production across India, Tea Board chairman Sourav Pahari said on Thursday . Overall, 1,344.4 million kg of tea was produced in India in FY 2021-22. Pahari told reporters that the Tea Board has sought a corpus of Rs 1000 crore from the Centre on a five-year-plan for boosting tea production in terms of quality, research work, rejuvenation of gardens, introduction of technology to reduce output cost and effort to produce organic tea.
He also appreciated the Indian Tea Association (ITA) for acknowledging the contribution of small tea growers. He said the board was also working to increase the domestic consumption of Indian Tea. Pahari stressed the need for branding the Indian Tea like that of Colombian coffee. He said the GI status of Darjeeling Tea is not enough to market Indian tea globally. ITA chairperson Nayantara Palchoudhuri while addressing the139th annual general meeting said that the small tea growers contribute 52 percent share of total tea production in India. On the export front it was on a higher graph this year by 12.6 percent during January to July as shipment to Iran, Iraq and UAE increased. Turkey and Syria have also started buying Indian tea owing to sustained marketing, the ITA chairperson said. “
Export in 2022 is estimated to touch 230 million kg, which would be a remarkable increase from 196 mkg of 2021,” the ITA report said. “ We have to target a volume of 350 Mkg in the next 3-4 years. It is well known that our scope for higher export hinges on higher production of orthodix, in tune with nits popularity and demand abroad. Orthodox production is gaining momentum and in this context I laud the recent decision that the Assam government to enhance the orthodox subsidy under Assam Tea Industries Special Incentive Scheme(ATISIS) from Rs 7 to Rs 10 per kg from April 2022,” said Palchoudhuri. “ I would urge Tea Board and Ministry of commerce to restore the Orthodox incentive from the Central government so that Orthodox tea producers, including Darjeeling are incentivised substantively at a higher rate.” the ITA chairperson said.