India's tea export prospect to G20 nations bright, say stakeholders

Indian tea industrys export prospect is bright as a whole and to G20 nations in particular amid the uncertainties arising out of the nonplacement of fresh contracts from Iran and doubts over the quality and quantity of the crisishit Sri Lankan crop stakeholders said on MondayIndia exported 13414 million kg of tea in the AprilOctober period of the ongoing 202223 fiscal with a major chunk of the shipments going to traditional buyers among the G20 bloc according to official data Over 112 million kg of tea was shipped out during the first seven months of the previous financial year it showedProspect of tea exports as a whole and to G20 countries in particular is bright Shipments to our traditional importers in the 20nation bloc have picked up according to yearonyear comparison Tea Board India chairman Saurav Pahari told PTIWe have already achieved 63 per cent of the export target of 225 million kg this fiscal Price realisation of exported volume is also satisfactory he addedIf the international factors such as geopolitical tension arising out of the RussiaUkraine war the inadequacy of containers and high freight charges become better tea export will pick up further he saidIndustry veteran PK Bezbaruah who is a former chairman of Tea Board said that provided the global economic situation becomes normal the outlook for Indian tea is very goodAlso read West Bengal believes in giving development humane face Mamata Banerjee at G20 meetingEven in a difficult year like the 202223 fiscal shipments should go up by 2530 million kg as compared to the previous financial year he said While some of the G20 nations such as Russia import lots of Indian tea China and the US are expected to buy more from India he saidEven though the dependence of the tea sector on the G20 bloc is relatively lower as compared to Indias overall export basket still these countries are important for us Maybe 80100 million kg of Indian tea would go to these countries this fiscal Bezbaruah saidPahari said Indias G20 presidency is a unique opportunity to showcase the countrys strengths to the entire world and the board is leaving no stone unturned to promote the beverageWe will set up experience zones in G20 ministerial meetings that will be held this year where we are hoping for good footfall he saidTea Board India has been entrusted with the responsibility of curating the Indian tea tasting and experience zones at Mumbai Kevadia Bengaluru and Jaipur After the pandemic tea is considered a beverage with health benefits and India needs to focus on that he saidIndian Tea Exporters Association chairman Anshuman Kanoria hailed the Centre for leveraging Indias G20 presidency to promote the commodity among the blocWe welcome attention being given to tea during the G20 meetings and highlight the history of the commodity in India We are hoping that this will be an initial step by the Centre to help the industry promote the beverage more aggressively within the group of 20 countries he saidIndias G20 presidency is coinciding with the FAO Intergovernmental Group IGG meeting on tea which will be held in Guwahati in April Rating agency ICRAs vice president Kaushik Das said the quality and quantity of tea from crisishit Sri Lanka a major producer of orthodox variety is in questionWith the economic crisis in the island country Indian tea producers have benefitted in the 2022 calendar year and going forward they need to work on maintaining such benefits on a sustainable basis he saidSri Lanka produces around 300 million kg of tea annually and exports around 9798 per cent of it India produces around 110 million kg of orthodox tea and of that 90 per cent is exported he saidOn nonplacement of orders from Iran a major importer of Indian tea Das said this is unlikely to have any material impact as fresh contracts from the west Asian country are not done during this time of the year and these usually happen during the second or third quarterIndian tea was able to increase its share in a few countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia which were traditionally buyers of Sri Lankan tea Kanoria saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever