Darjeeling tea production at risk as factories face industrial LPG shortage

Production of Darjeeling tea could see a further dip due to non-availability of industrial LPG, a tea association has warned, flagging the risk of supply disruption to factories in the West Bengal district.

In a recent letter to the deputy chairman of the Tea Board in Kolkata, the Darjeeling Tea Association cited a Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas communication, which asked all public sector oil marketing companies to ensure that LPG procured by them is supplied and marketed solely to households.

The association warned that the order could result in non-availability of industrial LPG to tea estate factories, directly impacting manufacture of Darjeeling tea and the livelihoods of 55,000 permanent workers and their families.

 

"The members of this association request to use your good offices with the concerned ministry to ensure uninterrupted supply of industrial LPG to the factories of the Darjeeling tea industry," the letter stated.

The association noted that Darjeeling tea estates had largely converted factories from coal-fired to industrial LPG over the past decade.

The development comes at a particularly vulnerable time for the Darjeeling tea industry, which is grappling with a prolonged production crisis.

Output has collapsed from a peak of around 14 million kg in 1990 to under 6 million kg in recent years, with 2024 and 2025 recording new historic lows. Data for January-November 2025 showed a further 8.79 per cent decline compared to the corresponding period in 2024.

The industry also faces structural challenges on multiple fronts, it said.

Cheaper tea from Nepal, often bearing similar characteristics, has flooded the domestic market, causing price stagnation for certified Darjeeling produce, industry sources said.

Analysts have also pointed to inadequate bush replacement in gardens as a contributor to the sustained output decline, contending that the industry has not done enough to rejuvenate ageing plantations.

Any disruption to industrial LPG supply during the first flush the season that commands the highest premium globally and whose entire produce is largely exported could deal a further blow to an industry already struggling to arrest its decline, they said.