The Hindu Business Line : Tea delegation heads for Iran

A high-level official delegation of the Indian tea industry comprising representatives of the Union Government and the industry including Chairman of the Tea Board, Mr Basudeb Banerjee, is leaving for Tehran, Iran on a four-day mission to intensify India's ongoing tea promotion efforts in that country.

Official sources told Business Line here that the team consists of Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Mr P.K. Chaudhery; Mr Manish Sharma, Director, Tea Promotion, Tea Board, Dubai; and Mr Monojit Dasgupta of Indian Tea Association; besides five leading tea exporters.

When contacted, the Minister of State for Commerce and Power, Mr Jairam Ramesh, said that as India's traditional tea markets like Russia, UAE, UK and parts of Europe had reached limits to growth, he has been campaigning for the last couple of years to diversify into new markets that include Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Pakistan.

He said these four new markets were big tea importers and between them, they import around 370 million kg a year, in which India's share is now in the range of 30 to 35 per cent. Mr Ramesh said his constant effort was to double this share in the next five years through sustained promotional schemes in place.

Centre in Egypt

Mr Ramesh said currently "we are focusing on Egypt and by March 2009 we are opening an India Tea Promotion Centre in Cairo, which is a joint venture between the Tea Board and the United Planters' Association of South India (UPASI)."

Asked about the thrust on Iran, he said there were a lot of regulation in the government department of Iran from the Ministry of Agriculture and Health which were acting as non-tariff barriers. He further said some Indian banks had stopped honouring the letter of credit by Iranian banks which were allegedly blacklisted in the past by the US Administration.

He said following an agreement at the 15th session of the India-Iran Joint Commission in Tehran during November 1-2 between the Union External Affairs Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, and Dr Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini, Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Iran, the Indian side proposed to send a high-level delegation to discuss further.On the issue of banking and insurance difficulties, both decided to cooperate within the aegis of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) as well as to explore other options.

Towards a resolution

It was further decided that the Ministry of Finance of both the countries would take up the issue with their respective Central banks for an early resolution, the sources said.

Mr Ramesh hoped that as a follow-up to the November meeting, the proposed visit of the high-level Indian delegation would help augment India's share in the important Iranian market where India sold 11 million kg of tea last fiscal, against their yearly import of 70 to 80 million kg.

He said with sustained efforts by the Indian tea industry, India would be able to offload 25 to 30 million kg in the next few years to Iran.

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