India eyes to boost tea exports to 400 m kgs by 2047
Coonoor
India is targeting tea exports of 400 million kgs by 2047 with increased value-addition, said the Tea Board Executive M Muthukumar said.
Addressing the 131 annual conference of The United Planters Association of South India (UPASI), Muthukumar said stagnating exports have been a main issue for tea, which has a huge domestic consumption. Efforts should be made to capture new markets while maintaining the share in existing markets such as Russia and Iran.
Tea exports have stagnated for decades hovering around 200 million kgs, while domestic consumption has seen significant growth. Tea exports which stood at around 201 million kgs way back in 1950 increased to 232 million kgs in 2023. Production, which stood at 278 million kgs in 1950 has grown to 1,394 million kgs in 2023. The domestic market has increased from 77 million kgs in 1950 to 1,162 million kgs in 2023.
“In order to be self-sufficient to meet both the domestic needs and exports, the production has to be augmented accordingly with a focus on strengthening research and development and improving quality testing to world standards,” Muthukumar said. The tea ecosystem is happy with the improvement in the price realisations this year, stating that it is the responsibility of the stakeholders to sustain the prices.
Climate change issues
India is the largest black tea producer in the world with around 20 per cent of the world tea production and the fourth largest exporter with around 12 per cent share. The tea sector’s vision is to maintain the production share and also to improve the export with value addition for better price realisation.
Muthukumar said the roadmap for 2047 includes sustained promotional campaigns for increasing domestic consumption, encouraging mechanisation in field practices by the organised sector to reduce costs and increase productivity, establishing a world class integrated tea park and setting up a global e-market place for sourcing teas directly from the origin among others.
Tea sector roadmap for 2047 also includes bringing tea under the ambit of climate change programmes for addressing the issues of adoption of organic farming, promoting reduced use of chemicals and imparting training on good agricultural practices, while ensuring alternative financing options for organised sector to carry out developmental activities to arrest the further ageing of bushes for its share of the supply chain and the sector sustainability, Muthukumar said.