Tea exports from India down by 20% in last 5 years

New Delhi, July 27 (KNN) The tea exports from India have witnessed a decline of over 20 percent in the last five years, centre informed the parliament today.

Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry in a reply to a question in Lok Sabha said "There was a decline in export of tea in last few years. Reportedly, this was due to non availability of containers, dislocation in shipping schedules, lock-down and uncertainty in the market due to covid-19 and disruptions in overall global trade.

The annual export of the beverage from 2017-18 to 2021-22 declined from 256.67 million kg to 200.79 million kilogram. However, in terms of volume, it increased by 7 per cent to Rs 5,412 crore.

Notably, for several years now, India's tea industry has been struggling with issues such as rising input costs, relatively stagnant consumption, and subdued prices, and weak exports. The tea business is cost-intensive, where 60-70 per cent of the total investment is fixed cost.

India's tea sector employs around 1.2 million workers and contributes 23 per cent to the global output. (KNN Bureau)