The Union budget presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Sunday left a bitter taste in the brew belt of north Bengal.

Many tea planters said there was nothing for the tea industry whereas other cash crops found prominent mention in the budget.

“There is nothing for the tea industry, which as an agricultural product needs much support. The Darjeeling industry is under immense stress right from finances to vagaries of nature and geopolitics. Being a geographic indicator the industry needs constant support and mention,” said a planter from Darjeeling.

Sitharaman, while presenting the budget, said: "To diversify farm outputs, increase productivity, enhance farmer’s incomes, and create new employment opportunities, we will support high-value crops such as coconut, sandalwood, cocoa and cashew in our coastal areas. Agar trees in northeast and nuts such as, almonds, walnuts and pine nuts in our hilly regions will also be supported."

To enhance competitiveness in coconut production, the Centre has proposed a coconut promotion scheme to increase production through interventions such as replacing old and non-productive trees with new saplings and introducing varieties in major coconut growing states.

Amitangshu Chakraborty, adviser to the Indian Tea Planters Association, said they were disheartened with how the tea industry was ignored in the budget.

"The tea industry is going through various challenges. One of the biggest challenges is climate changes and natural calamities. Keeping this in view, we expected the Centre to announce packages for the tea industry to overcome the crisis. But the Centre has ignored the tea industry which has left us completely disheartened," Chakraborty said.

Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty, the national president of Confederation of Small Tea Growers Association of India, said they were also disappointed with the current budget.

"More than 95 per cent of the total production of tea in the country is produced by Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Assam. For poll-bound Bengal, we expected the Centre to announce positive steps for the development of the tea industry of the state. But we are completely disappointed.”

However, the BJP MP of Darjeeling, Raju Bista, had a different take.

“The announcement of ₹10,000 crore SME growth fund and trade receivables discounting system liquidity support will empower small tea growers, manufacturers, tourism operations and handicraft units in our region,” Bista said.

North Bengal's tea belt employs around 3 lakh workers and swings the poll outcome in at least 15 Assembly seats.

In the 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP won all five seats in Alipurduar and four out of seven seats in Jalpaiguri. In Cooch Behar, the BJP won seven of nine seats. The BJP also bagged the Darjeeling and Kurseong seats in the hills.

In recent years, the ruling Trinamool Congress has been focusing on the tea belt with facilities such as housing, creches, schoolbuses and ambulances.

Additional reporting by Bireswar Banerjee in Siliguri