Q. With reference to the “Tea Board” in India, consider the following statements:

  1. The Tea Board is a statutory body.
  2. It is a regulatory body attached to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
  3. The Tea Board’s Head Office is situated in Bengaluru.
  4. The Board has overseas offices at Dubai and Moscow.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

  • 1 and 3
  • 2 and 4
  • 3 and 4
  • 1 and 4

Answer: (d) 1 and 4

Tea Board
  • The origin of the Tea Board can be traced to 1903 when the Indian Tea Cess Bill was passed to provide for levying a cess on tea exports.
  • The Tea Board is set up under the Tea Act 1953. It has succeeded the Central Tea Board and the Indian Tea Licencing Committee which functioned respectively under the Central Tea Board Act, 1949, and the Indian Tea Control Act, 1938 which were repealed.
  • The Tea Board is functioning as a statutory body of the Central Government under the Ministry of Commerce.
  • Its headquarters is located in Kolkata, and 17 other offices across India.
  • The Board is constituted of 31 members (including the Chairman) drawn from Members of Parliament, tea producers, tea traders, tea brokers, consumers, and representatives of Governments from the principal tea producing states, and trade unions.
  • The Board is reconstituted every three years.
  • The offices are located in Kolkata, London, Moscow, and Dubai. The Tea Board had an office in New York City in the 1960s and 70s.
  • Mr. P V Ramaswamy was the first director of the NYC office from 1960 to 1963 and also returned to head it from 1973 to 1975.
State of Indian Tea Industry
  • India is the second-largest producer of tea globally.
    • The northern part of India is the biggest producer at about 83% of the country’s annual tea production in 2021-22 with the majority of the production coming from Assam followed by West Bengal.
      • The Assam valley and Cachar are the two tea producing regions in Assam.
      • In West Bengal, Dooars, Terai and Darjeeling are the three major tea producer regions.
    • The southern part of India produces about 17% of the country’s total production with the major producing states being Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.
  • India’s total tea production for the financial year 2020-21 it was 1,283 million kg.
  • Consumption:
    • India is also among the world’s top tea consuming countries, with 80% of the tea produced in the country consumed by the domestic population.
  • Export:
    • India is among the top 5 tea exporters in the world making about 10% of the total exports.
      • In the year 2021, the total value of tea exports from India was around USD 687.9 million.
    • India exports tea to more than 25 countries throughout the world.
      • Russia, Iran, UAE, USA, the UK, Germany, and China are some of the major importers of tea from India.
    • India’s total tea exports during 2021-22 in quantity was 201 million kg.
    • The majority of the tea exported out of India is black tea which makes up about 96% of the total exports.
      • The types of tea exported through India are: Black tea, Regular tea, Green tea, Herbal tea, Masala tea and Lemon tea.
        • Out of these, black tea, regular tea and green tea make up approximately 80%, 16% and 3.5% of the total tea exported from India.
      • Indian Assam, Darjeeling, and Nilgiritea are considered one of the finest in the world.
        • Indian tea is one of the finest in the world due to strong geographical indications, heavy investment in tea processing units, continuous innovation, augmented product mix, and strategic market expansion.
    • Geographical Indication (GI) Tag:
      • Darjeeling Tea also known as “Champagne of teas,” worldwide because of its flowery scent was the 1st GI tag product.
        • Other two variants of Darjeeling tea i.e., Green and White tea also hold GI tags.
    • Regulation of the Industry:
      • Tea Board of India is in charge of developing and promoting the tea industry in India.