Scholar as well as an herbalist had the first cup of Tea in the world,
and that too as an accident. The story goes like this. The Emperor’s
servant was boiling water while they were out in the forest;
suddenly a leaf fell into the bubbling water, but the Emperor
instead of removing the leaf decided to try the brew. This is how
the first cup of Tea originated in the world. Later, tea was
researched out for its properties as a healthy refreshing drink.
The benefits of Tea drinking derives from the many stories which
were told as well as written, mainly during the third century AD,
and from the Tang Dynasty (618 AD – 906 AD) Tea was declared
as China’s national drink, and also the word Ch’a was used as the
term to describe tea. Chinese author Lu Yu was the first person
to write a book about Tea, which was titled Ch’a Ching. It
comprises of three volumes, and explains in detail about its
growth, making and also about it’s drinking. It also had
illustrations of many utensils, historical notes, names of ancient
famous tea plantations etc. There was also a mention about the
Japanese Tea Ceremony and how it inspired the Buddhist priests.
The Chinese were sole suppliers of tea to the world till the
Japanese broke their stranglehold in the 9th century and the first
business rivalry was kicked off. Tea time for India and indeed the
rest of the western world began with the advent of the British.
According to records, the seeds of Darjeeling tea – often called
the champagne of teas – were planted in 1841. But commercial
production began only in 1852. The second half of the 19th
century saw a massive expansion of tea cultivation in India.
Amazing strides
Today Indian Tea Industry is having about 1692 registered tea
manufacturers, 2200 registered tea exporters, 5548 number of
registered tea buyers and nine tea auction centers. The total
turnover of the tea industry is around Rs. 10,000 crores. Since
independence tea production has grown over 250%, while land
area has just grown by 40%. There has been a considerable
increase in export too in the past few years. Total net foreign
exchange earned by Indian tea industry per annum is around Rs
1847 crores. The labour intensive tea industry directly employs
over 1.1 million workers and generates income for another 10
million people approximately. Women constitute 50% of the
workforce. The Indian tea industry has grown to own many global
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INDIA
tea brands, and has evolved to one of the most technologically
equipped tea industries in the world.
Tea trading
Tea trading in the domestic market is done in two ways- Auction
and Private Selling. Six major auction centers in India are, Calcutta,
Guwahati, Siliguri, Cochin, Coonoor, Coimbatore. The export
market for Indian Teas are mainly in the Russian and CIS countries
with 90 million kgs of the total exports going to these countries.
This is equivalent to 43% of India’s Tea exports. India exports Tea
to most of the European Countries, U.S.A. Japan, West Asia and
the Asia Pacific Region. In fact, there is hardly any country where
Indian Tea is not found. The range of tea offered by India - from
the original Orthodox to CTC and Green Tea, from the aroma and
flavour of Darjeeling Tea to the strong Assam and Nilgiri Tearemains unparalleled in the world. Tea production, certification,
exportation, and all other facets of the tea trade in India is
controlled by the Tea Board of India.
Tea Board
Tea Board was set up as a statutory body on 1st April, 1954 as
per Section (4) of Tea Act 1953. As an apex body it looks after the
overall development of the tea industry. The Board is headed by
a Chairman and consists of 30 members appointed by
Government of India representing various interests pertaining to
Tea Industry. The Board’s Head office is situated in Kolkata and
there are two zonal offices — one for North Eastern Region at
Jorhat in Assam and another for Southern Region at Coonoor in
Tamil Nadu. Under the control of these offices there are ten field
offices spread over in all the major tea growing states. It has also
three overseas offices at London, Moscow and Dubai whose
activities are mostly promotional in nature. Tea Board has wide
functions and responsibilities which include extending financial
and technical assistance to the tea growers, manufacturers and
producers, workers welfare, export and domestic promotion,
quality improvement, regulating and control of various facets of
tea trade including that of Tea Auctions, facilitating R&D activities,
collection, collation and dissemination statistical data etc. For
more information: Tea Board, 14, B.T.M. Sarani, Kolkata - 700 001,
Ph: 033 2235 1331, Web: www.teaboard.gov.in