It isn’t just climate change and US tariffs that have endangered Indian tea plantations. Low quality tea imports from countries like Kenya and Nepal have made their way to not only Indian shores, but also market aisles, leading to a crash in the prices of tea grown locally.
The country’s tea growers have therefore called on the government to reframe policy surrounding tea imports in order to safeguard domestic growers.
Talking about the ‘Advance Authorisation Scheme’, president of the Tea Association of India (TAI), Sandeep Singhania, said duty-free imports of tea under the scheme are supposed to be used for exports, but these are finding their way to the domestic market and undermining the prices of the crop.
The scheme, seen as a mechanism to make Indian exports competitive, allows exporters to import inputs, such as raw materials, without paying customs duty, on the condition that these will be used to manufacture products for export.
“The price of this ‘inferior-quality’ tea ranges from USD 1.5 to USD 1.7 (₹130-140) per kg. This year, production has been up by over 70 million kg. The domestic output, along with these imports, has aggravated the situation. Average tea prices are down by at least ₹42 per kg,” he said.
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Singhania and other tea growers have urged the government to impose a 100 per cent import duty or a ‘minimum import price’ to reduce such shipments from entering the country.
Claiming that there is no preventive mechanism against duty-free imports, Singhania called for a Sri Lanka-like standard operating procedure so that such shipments entering India can be curtailed and non-compliance with food safety norms can be addressed.
"We have proposed the introduction of a minimum import price to stop the influx of cheap quality tea from the overseas market and the removal of the advance licensing scheme," he said.
Another industry organisation, the Indian Tea Association, recently raised concern about the surge in low-cost imports – totaling 19.61 million kg (mkg) during January to June this year, a 57.14 per cent increase from 2024, even while the country’s tea production was nearly 641 mkg during the January-July period this year as compared with 564 mkg in the same period last year.
The tea imports from Kenya in the January-June period of the current calendar year were higher than imports in the same period of the previous year by 45 per cent at 6.6 mkg, informed Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty, president of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers' Association.
Saying this year has been the worst in the last decade in terms of price realisation, Chakraborty blamed cheap imports of tea as one of the main reasons behind the declining tea prices.
"Small growers have been compelled to sell green leaves at ₹14-15 per kg, while we had realised ₹30 a kg during this time last year. The market prices have crashed, resulting in a revenue loss for small growers. Cheap import of tea is one of the reasons behind the declining prices," he said.
Chakraborty said members of various small tea growers' organisations across the country have apprised the commerce ministry officials of the situation and demanded the imposition of 100 per cent import duty.
Echoing the demands of the other tea growers, Hemant Bangur, chairman of the Indian Tea Association (ITA) said duty-free imports must be stopped.
"Unbridled influx of tea from Nepal has decimated the Darjeeling tea industry. It seems that unabated imports from Kenya will hit the Assam tea sector. This needs to be stopped. There is no problem if imports come with a 100 per cent duty," he said.
Bangur said the industry has requested the Tea Board to track the use of imported tea, which is responsible for monitoring imports and exports.
"The Tea Council, with representative members from various industry bodies, is supposed to monitor imports and exports. The council has been formed, but the rules have not been notified. The problem is that there is no reliable data on how much of the imported quantity is being re-exported and how much is leaking into the domestic market,” he lamented.
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