Lok Sabha Question No. 5638 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-04-06
Subject: Tea Production
Ministry: COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Asked by: Raju Bista

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE)

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5638 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06 th  APRIL, 2022

## TEA PRODUCTION

## 5638.    SHRI RAJU BISTA:

Will the Minister of COMMERCE & INDUSTRY ( वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग मंत्री ) be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of tea production in North Bengal districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri during the last three years;
- (b) the  details  of  total  tea  exported  and  average  sale  price  of  exports,  from  these districts in the last three years;
- (c) whether the Government is aware of the illegal dumping of tea from other countries into India and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the details of the tea imports into India from other countries in the last three years;
- (e) whether the Government proposes to impose import duty on tea and mandate Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) clearance for imported tea before being allowed entry into markets; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

okf.kT; ,oa m|ksx ea=ky; esa jkT; ea=h ¼Jherh vuqfiz;k iVsy½

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)

(a): The details of production of tea in North Bengal districts during the last three years is given hereunder :

Qty in M. Kgs

| District                                         |   2019 |   2020 |   2021* |
|--------------------------------------------------|--------|--------|---------|
| Darjeeling (Darjeeling Hills &Darjeeling Plains) | 125.64 | 108.59 |  114.23 |
| Kalimpong                                        |   1.92 |   1.41 |    1.33 |
| Alipurduar                                       |  44.22 |  42.45 |   45.16 |
| Jalpaiguri                                       | 177.76 | 166.28 |  168.39 |

Source: Tea Board

(b): The tea is mostly blended before it is exported and as such, the origin (district/State/UTwise)  is  lost  in  the  process.  Hence  the  data  pertaining  to  district-wise  export  of  tea  is    not maintained by the Tea Board.  However, the tea exports during the last three years is given in the following table:

| Year   |   Qty (M.Kgs) |   Value (Rs.Crs) |   Unit Price (Rs/Kg) |
|--------|---------------|------------------|----------------------|
| 2019   |        252.15 |          5737.66 |               227.55 |
| 2020   |        209.72 |          5235.29 |               249.63 |
| 2021*  |        195.5  |          5246.89 |               268.39 |

Source: Tea Board

(c)  to  (f): The  Tea  imported  for  domestic  markets  attract  basic  import  duty  of  100%  plus surcharges. The import duty is nil for Export Oriented Units (EoU) and Special Economic Zones (SEZ). Concessional rate of 7.5% basic duty plus other normal surcharges apply to imports from Sri  Lanka upto a volume of 15 Million Kgs. of tea per calendar year under the Foreign Trade Agreement (FTA). Import of Tea from ASEAN Countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia etc., is covered under ASEAN agreement and presently attracts duty of 45%. No duty is levied on Tea imported from Nepal. The details of country-wise import of tea during the last three years are given at Annexure.   Food  Safety  and  Standards  Authority  of  India  (FSSAI)  and  field  formations  of Customs are enforcing the provisions related to Rules of Origin and  Sanitary and Phytosanitary certificates issued by appropriate authorities at point of entry.

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## ANNEXURE

## COUNTRY/ORIGIN WISE TEAS IMPORTED DURING LAST 3 YEARS

Qty in M. Kgs

| Country/Origin   | 2019   | 2020   | 2021   |
|------------------|--------|--------|--------|
| ARGENTINA        | 1.42   | 0.63   | 1.23   |
| AUSTRALIA        | --     | --     | 0.06   |
| CHINA            | 0.36   | 0.36   | 0.50   |
| GERMANY          | 0.02   | 0.01   | 0.11   |
| INDONESIA        | 0.41   | 0.84   | 1.37   |
| IRAN             | 0.02   | 0.06   | 0.36   |
| JAPAN            | --     | --     | 0.01   |
| KENYA            | 3.00   | 7.17   | 8.50   |
| MALAWI           | 0.50   | 0.24   | 0.16   |
| MALAYSIA         | 0.05   | 0.02   | --     |
| MOZAMBIQUE       | 0.04   | 0.35   | 0.30   |
| MYANMAR          | 0.02   | 0.02   | --     |
| NEPAL            | 7.58   | 10.88  | 8.59   |
| RWANDA           | -      | 0.05   | 0.17   |
| SOUTH AFRICA     | -      | 0.04   | --     |
| SRI LANKA        | 0.47   | 0.31   | 0.29   |
| TANZANIA         | 0.29   | 0.34   | 0.17   |
| TURKEY           | -      | 0.14   | --     |
| U.A.E            | 0.03   | 0.07   | 0.54   |
| U.S.A            | 0.02   | 0.19   | 0.04   |
| UGANDA           | -      | 0.05   | 0.07   |
| UNITED KINGDOM   | 0.48   | 0.28   | 0.17   |
| VIETNAM          | 0.80   | 1.64   | 2.87   |
| ZIMBABWE         | 0.14   | 0.10   | 0.39   |
| JAPAN            | 0.01   | --     | --     |
| SINGAPORE        | 0.18   | --     | --     |
| TAIWAN           | 0.02   | --     | --     |
| Total            | 15.86  | 23.79  | 25.90  |

Source: Tea Board