States » EastPosted at: Nov 10 2026 9:26PM


Bengal: Tea industry associations seek early notification of minimum sustainable price

Kolkata, Nov 10 (UNI) Five major tea industry associations have welcomed the recommendation of a Tea Board of India committee to introduce a Minimum Sustainable Price (MSP) for tea, saying the move would help bridge the widening gap between rising production costs and stagnant market prices and ensure better returns for tea producers, particularly small tea growers.
A 10-member committee constituted by the Tea Board has recommended a sustainable pricing mechanism to protect the financial viability of the Indian tea industry, support growers and safeguard the long-term sustainability of the sector.
Representatives of the Indian Tea Association (ITA), Tea Association of India (TAI), United Planters' Association of Southern India (UPASI), Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Associations (CISTA) and Federation of Indian Tea Manufacturers Association (FITMA) jointly welcomed the recommendation at a press conference in Kolkata on Tuesday.
C.K. Dhanuka, Chairman of Dhunseri Tea and Industries, said the industry was facing mounting production costs while tea price realisations had remained relatively stagnant.
With further wage increases expected under the Code on Wages, he said an MSP framework was essential to help producers meet rising costs, protect employment and maintain the competitiveness of Indian tea.
Suneel Singh Sikand, Chairman of the Indian Tea Association, described the recommendation as an important policy intervention to address the industry's structural challenges.
He said remunerative returns were necessary to sustain operations and encourage investment in replantation and productivity enhancement.
Shailja Mehta, President of the Tea Association of India, said improved financial viability would enable producers to maintain quality standards, invest in modernisation and enhance productivity, thereby strengthening the global competitiveness of Indian tea.
The committee has proposed a composite index based on wage movements and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to determine the benchmark MSP, along with periodic reviews to keep the price mechanism aligned with changes in production costs and inflation.
Sanjith R. Nair, Secretary General of UPASI, stressed that the framework should take into account differences in agro-climatic conditions, production practices and cost structures across India's tea-growing regions.
The recommendation is particularly significant for small tea growers, who account for nearly 55 per cent of India's annual tea production of around 1,350–1,400 million kg.
Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty, President of CISTA, said small growers depended heavily on the prices received for green leaf and that a properly structured MSP would ensure more stable and remunerative returns, protecting their livelihoods.
Deven Singh, Chairman of FITMA, said bought-leaf factories (BLFs), which procure green leaf from small growers and process it into made tea, were also facing economic pressure.
He said the proposed mechanism should recognise their processing costs and operating conditions to ensure viable returns across the tea value chain.
Industry representatives pointed out that employment accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the total cost of tea production. Meanwhile, tea prices have recorded an annual compound growth of only around 2–3 per cent over the years, against an estimated 10–14 per cent rise in input costs.
The associations said the proposed MSP would help producers accommodate future wage revisions, maintain quality, invest in cultivation and processing, and improve the export competitiveness of Indian tea.
They have urged the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, to take favourable note of the committee's recommendations and notify the Minimum Sustainable Price at the earliest.
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Tags: #Bengal: Tea industry associations seek early notification of minimum sustainable price
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