According to the latest official data available with the Tea Board, on the production front, calendar 2020 has opened on a positive note after India recording the highest ever output of 1390 million kg (mkg) in 2019 compared to all these years.

The 2019 output was some 52 mkg more than the production of 2018.

“Tea Board has now released the data for January 2020 which shows that India produced 16.01 mkg against 14.22 mkg in January 2019, marking a gain of 1.79 mkg or 12.59 per cent,” Rajesh Gupta, compiler of ‘Global Tea Digest’, told BusinessLine .

This entire production has come from South India as North Indian plantations and factories remained closed in January following the Board’s orders for mandatory closure for winter rest.

“All three States in the South produced more tea than in January 2019. Tamil Nadu’s output rose to 10.70 mkg from 9.51 mkg, Kerala’s to 4.89 mkg from 4.45 mkg and Karnataka’s to 0.42 mkg from 0.26 mkg,” Gupta said.

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