 "According to industry estimates, in 2024, tea imports from Nepal stood at 15.95 million kg (mkg). A significant quantity was of the orthodox variety that competes with the Darjeeling tea. In 2024, Darjeeling tea production was at 5.6 mkg.")
Falling production, shrinking global footprint, and a flood of cheaper imports from neighbouring Nepal – Darjeeling tea, celebrated as the “Champagne of teas”, is losing its aroma.
The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government has sounded the alarm urging the Centre to invoke the safeguard clause in the India-Nepal trade treaty, seeking protection for Darjeeling tea from the surge of unregulated Nepalese imports.
Signed in 2009 and renewed every seven years, the India-Nepal treaty provides for a safeguard clause, which can be triggered if imports
