The Hindu Business Line : Pak-bound tea team set to explore patterns, demand

Kolkata April 18 As a 13-member Indian tea delegation, to be headed by the Tea Board Chairman, prepares to leave for Pakistan to explore boosting sale of Indian tea in that country, the issue of shipment through the land route remains critical.

"Why can't the same land route currently being used to send tea to Amritsar be also used to push Indian tea through the Wagah border into Lahore," wondered a member of the delegation.

"We will, therefore, try to assess the demand as well as drinking patterns in various regions of Pakistan as well as the different buying segments."

Precisely for the same reason, the delegation will cover more cities than earlier ones.

During its weeklong visit at the invitation of Pakistan Tea Association, the delegation will start from Lahore, go to Rawalpindi via Islamabad, visit Peshawar and finally Karachi.

Trade control

Currently, Karachi-based tea importers virtually control the tea trade in Pakistan, as a result of which buyers located far away from the port city suffer from a disadvantage.

If a Lahore-based trader can break free from the clutches of the Karachi-based trade and succeed in importing tea directly from India by the land route, there is no reason why the Pakistani consumers located close to the Indian border will not be able to savour the Indian tea at a much cheaper rate.

There have been reports to suggest that it should be possible to transport Assam and Darjeeling varieties right from the gardens straight to Pakistan if the transportation by the land route is opted for.

In 2005, when the last Indian tea delegation visited Pakistan, the issue of opening up the land route did come up for discussion, but did not make any headway.

The Karachi-based tea importers, for obvious reasons, did not show much interest in it.

"Hopefully, it will come up again for discussion this time too. But we do not want to cause any discomfort to any segment of the Pakistan tea trade," said the delegation member.

Meanwhile, the revival of shipping protocol between the two countries has brightened the prospects of direct sailings between Kochi and Karachi.

Pakistan imports an estimated at 140 million kg of tea annually, mostly from Kenya.

Another 30 million kg or so find way into that country through unofficial channels but how much of it is from India is difficult to estimate.

Over the years, Pakistan's buying from India has been steadily rising - from 3.5 million kg in 2004 to 10.99 million kg in 2005 and further to 14.75 million kg in 2006. At least 20 million kg, if not more, should be exported in the current year, according to tea export trade sources.