The Parliamentary standing committee on commerce has recommended a check on import of duty free, “low quality,” “cheap” tea coming from neighbouring Nepal to protect the 169-year-old Darjeeling tea.
The committee, chaired by Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen, submitted its report to both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha last month.
Insiders in the tea industry allege that tea-sellers are blending tea imported from Nepal and branding the product as Darjeeling Tea, ignoring a 2021 order from the Tea Board.
Darjeeling tea is the first Indian product to get the Geographical Indication (GI) 21 years ago. The Tea Board order bars mixing tea varieties produced in India with the imported ones.
The notification issued on December 11, 2021 stated the imported tea must not be blended with GI teas like Darjeeling, Kangra, Assam (orthodox) and Nilgiri (orthodox) and if mixed, they cannot use the GI tag.
The packers were instructed to mention that the blended tea contained imported ingredients, along with the origin of the tea. Since 2017, the Nepal tea has been flooding this side of the border with its lower price, giving the blenders an edge over the far costlier Darjeeling tea.
An online retailer from Kolkata concurs with the standing committee’s comments on the quality of Nepal tea.
“The shelf-life of original Darjeeling tea is around a year. The Nepal tea lasts for barely a month,” said Bratati Rai Choudhury, owner of Golden Delight, an online retailer of Darjeeling tea. “The leaves are identical, which makes it nearly impossible for an average consumer to differentiate between both the varieties.”
The year 2024 has been a bad year for the Darjeeling tea industry with production plunging to its record lowest production at 5.6 million kg of made tea, the first time in the 169 year history of Darjeeling tea, a sharp decline from five decades ago when it peaked with 14 million kg.
“The problem is not just production. Production has been affected by a number of factors. Our main problem is packaging. Darjeeling tea is a niche product and should be marketed as such. Instead we have been focussed on producing in bulk and selling in bulk,” said a Siliguri-based tea exporter who did not want to be named. “Instead of selling by tonnes we could look at selling by grams.”
Export of Darjeeling tea has fallen from 4.5million kg in 2023 to three million kg in 2024. Countries like the US too are looking at the cheaper Nepal variety.
Of the 87 tea gardens in Darjeeling, around 10-12 are shut.
“Many planters want to sell their gardens. Properties that are around Rs. 15crore-Rs.20crore are being offered at Rs. five crore, but still don’t find takers as the liabilities are considerably high,” said an industry source. “Instead of maintaining a 200 acre or 300acre garden, it is easier to manage a two acre one.”
According to industry insiders, tea gardens in the neighbouring country are run like cottage industries with the families themselves involved in the plantation and plucking.
“They have been able to maximise their profits by minimising the production costs. Here the large gardens have to think about the labour, their healthcare, housing, provident fund etc plus the loan. If the government could help with reducing the interests the money can be pumped into production.”
The industry would like to count 2024 among the bad years. The first flush has already arrived in the market which amounts to around 40 per cent of the industry’s revenue, roughly around Rs. 400crore-Rs.500crore.
“After three or four years we have got the quality similar to what it used to be earlier. In some of the years the quality was so poor we had to say out-of-stock. We expect things to turn around this year,” said a retailer from south Kolkata.
