The Hindu Business Line : Orthodox tea output may top 140 mkg in 5 years

Warming up
Exports to Pakistan likely to touch 30 million kg in five years.
IIT, Kharagpur to set up centre for tea engineering.
Tea producers’ forum to be launched to focus on producers’ issues.

Santanu Sanyal

Guwahati, Nov. 22 The Union Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh, on Thursday lashed out at the tea industry for its lack of initiative to explore new markets abroad.

attitude

“The tea bosses must abandon their ‘burra sahib country club’ attitude if they are to survive in the changing world economy,” Mr Ramesh said, addressing the India International Tea Convention 2007 here on Thursday. “We can no longer hope to export what we produce, we must produce what we can sell.”

India’s traditional markets, as he pointed out, were changing, partly due to intense competition from other tea producing countries and partly due to changing consumer preferences. For example, the demand for orthodox teas was rising; also new markets on Pakistan, Egypt and Iran were holding out promises. India, he felt, should be able to export 30 million kg (mkg) of tea to Pakistan within five years from now.

The demand for orthodox teas was rising worldwide even as India produced a meagre 80 mkg of this tea annually out the total production of more than 900 mkg. The Rs 100 crore subsidy scheme launched for the promotion of orthodox teas should yield results, he said expressing the hope that the production of orthodox tea should each 140 mkg within five years.

More conventions

The Minister felt that as a major tea producing and exporting country India should hold more international conventions. “Five conventions in 30 years were just not enough,” he said and suggested that India Tea International Convention should be held regularly every two years such that it became part of the international tea calendar. “The world must know that the Great Indian Tea Party will be held every two years,” he observed.

Tea engineering

Suggesting that more emphasis should be laid on tea research and tea engineering, he said a tripartite initiative had been undertaken to promote research in tea with participation of Tocklai tea research centre, Assam Government and Regional Research Laboratory. Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur was setting up a centre for tea engineering for which Rs 16 crore would be provided by Tea Board, he added.

New Challenges

Mr Tarun Gogoi, the Assam Chief Minister, urged the tea industry to cope with new challenges in productivity, marketing and research. “This is important to expand the market both globally and domestically,” he said. For Assam, the health of the tea industry was critical not only from the point of the State government’s revenue but also from the point of view of employment the tea gardens provided.

Mr Basudeb Banerjee, Chairman of Tea Board, said fresh initiatives had been undertaken to launch a tea producers’ forum to focus on the issues facing the tea producers of the world. This morning he held meeting with the representatives of Kenya who were participating in the convention.

“We’re determined to continue with international tea events, particularly marketing events, to showcase the wide varieties of India teas,” he said.

Mr Aditya Khaitan, Chairman of Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations, in his welcome address, raised several important issues like the need for strengthening the partnership between the tea producing states and the Centre, closer interaction between tea traders and tea producers and government coming out with measures to provide relief to the tea producers in matter of huge social cost it was being required to shoulder.