Darjeeling tea loses Rs 100 crore annually as Nepal import rises

Darjeeling tea is priced 60% more than Nepal variant

The Darjeeling tea industry has been estimated to be losing at leastRs 120 crore every year because cheap leaf imported from Nepal is taking its place, though under the rubric ‘Darjeeling tea’, and at a premium at that.

Industry officials have estimated the Darjeeling tea industry’s annual market size to be more thanRs 600 crore, which could have crossed theRs 700 crore mark had India not been importing tea from its Himalayan neighbour under the Free Trade Agreement.

One of the costliest varieties of tea in the world, Darjeeling’s Indianised camellia sinesis is produced in a limited quantity, at just above eight