INDIA
The Tea Board of India has formally recognized the state of Tripura as a major tea growing region, awarding status and a logo for what will be known as Tripureshwari Tea.
The decision paves the way for rigorous marking and an opportunity to export the state’s tea to neighboring Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Tea Board data reveals that the county consumed about 86 million kilos of tea in 2017 but produced only 79 million kilos. Bangladeshi buyers have been importing tea from India, but not from Tripura.
Tripura has produced tea since 1916. Today there are 16,000 acres (6,430 hectares) under tea with 20,000 people directly employed at 54 big gardens and 21 factories. Another 15,000 work on 230 small gardens.
Planters complained for years that selling finished tea at the auction markets in Guwahati, Kolkata, and Siliguri was more difficult without official recognition and a state brand. At the unveiling ceremony in January Tripura Tea Development Corporation Ltd. director Santosh Kumar Saha said, “The main obstacle in marketing finished tea has been finally removed and now tea planters can sell their products outside the state with the new logo,”