Tea producers from different parts of the country held a meeting in Kolkata earlier this week and sought minimum sustainable price of made tea and 100% auction of tea.
“The industry stands committed to promote production of best quality teas that are compliant. To sustain quality and remain compliant, price realisation needs to compensate the cost of production and allow for a reasonable margin,” a press statement by the Indian Tea Association said on Thursday (February 13, 2025).
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The meeting of tea producers both big and small growers across north and south India was held in Kolkata on Tuesday (February 11, 2025) where the participants focussed on the reality that like farmers in the agriculture sector, tea industry operations being predominantly agricultural. “The tea farmers also face similar challenges due to climate change and associated volatility,” the press statement added.
The meeting saw the participation of Indian Tea Association (ITA) and the Tea Association of India (TAI) as well as various small growers’ associations of the north-east, West Bengal and south India as well as other tea producing States.
Representatives of the ITA and the TAI as well as small tea growers from different states said that the minimum sustainable price of made tea, indexed to cost of production and quality, needs to be introduced immediately. “To monitor and give effect to the same, 100% auction of made teas should also be introduced,” the press statement added.
In a press statement on February 11, the ITA said that key challenges include lack of bargaining power with the small tea growers, given the perishable nature of green leaf and existing price distortion as the present price sharing formula (PSF) for determining minimum benchmark Price (MBP) for green leaf is not compensating the cost of production.
The TAI also welcomed the West Bengal government’s decision to extend the exemption of agricultural income tax for the tea industry until March 31, 2026, as announced in the State Budget for 2025-26 on Wednesday (February 12, 2025).
