West Bengal keen to enhance brand value of Darjeeling tea

The West Bengal government would draw up detailed plans to enhance the brand value of Darjeeling tea for higher realisation of exports, a top official said today.

"We are planning for enhancement of the brand value of Darjeeling tea along the lines of champagne, which has acquired iconic proportions across the globe," MD of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Vandana Yadav told reporters on the sidelines of a CII event here.

WBIDC would work out the details and make the necessary investment towards this end.

Yadav said that the matter came up for discussion at the business summit held in Darjeeling recently.

She said that at present, the Darjeeling tea, which had already got the GI tag and a special logo, was being sent to the export markets in bulk form.

"We want to package it into a very premium format to get highly discerning realisation in the export markets of UK, US, Europe and Japan," she said.

The state government would also facilitate B2B meetings between exporters and buyers, Yadav added.