Calcutta, Feb. 12: The Bengalis are not great tea drinkers after all. This was revealed in a study on tea consumption patterns done by the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, for the Tea Board.

Bengal produces 21 per cent of the country’s tea but its tea consumption volume at 36.74 million kg (mkg) is one of the lowest. This is only 4.9 per cent of the total consumption. The state has an average per capita consumption of 443 gm and is at the 25th position only. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura and Orissa occupy slots lower than Bengal. Assam produces 52 per cent of India’s tea, while Bengal is in the second position.

Assam’s tea consumption volume at 17.53 mkg is lower than Bengal. However, its per capita consumption of 637 gm is higher than that of Bengal.

“This is very surprising and at odds with the popular perception. The climatic zone and tea consumption as a function of the economic condition could be some of the reasons. However, at a time when India’s share in global tea consumption has increased from 2 per cent to 3.3 per cent and is expected to rise further, this comes as a major opportunity for expansion,” said Aditya Khaitan, managing director, McLeod Russel India Ltd.

Another reason cited by industry experts was that Bengal is a traditional drinker of Darjeeling tea, which has a lower production volume but carries a higher price tag.

Maharashtra tops the list with 112.28 mkg tea consumed annually, comprising 15 per cent of the total consumption.

Uttar Pradesh comes second at 78.22 mkg followed by Gujarat (71.83 mkg) and Rajasthan (59.04 mkg).