The Hindu Business Line : Tea Board team to visit Pak in April

Kochi March 22 A delegation from the Tea Board is to leave for Cairo on Thursday for finalising the opening of a Tea Marketing Centre in the Egyptian capital, according to the Union Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh.

Mr Ramesh, who is here to present the awards to the winners of The Golden Leaf India Awards: Southern Tea Competition, told newspersons that the Marketing Centre in Egypt, which is the thrust market after Pakistan, would become operational in three months. The delegation will have members from Upasi and India Tea Trade Association apart from the Tea Board, he said.

Another Tea Board delegation, Mr Ramesh said, would be visiting Pakistan from April 14-15 for negotiations with its counterparts there on movement of tea on land-route via the Wagah boarder. At present, Pakistan imports 16 million kg teas from India.

New markets

The Tea Board is identifying new markets for tea and special thrust is being given to Iran, Egypt and Pakistan, he said. Iraq is now the single largest market for Indian teas. Exports to Russia have continued to decline following the change in consumer preference of late for orthodox tea from CTC teas.

Eyeing orthodox tea

He said that currently the production of orthodox tea in the country was only 10 per cent of the total output and given the growing demand for it "we have decided to have a five-year plan to increase the output of orthodox tea from 80 mkg to 120 mkg". The Tea Board, he said, will look at the finalisation of the incentives needed for this purpose.

On the e-trading in tea, the Union Minister said that the process was in the final stages and a technical consultant would be appointed soon to design the system.