By Kumar Vikram New Delhi, Aug 22 : Don’t be confused in the event that you don’t detect aroma in the premium Darjeeling tea you buy at your local store or have it delivered online.
It could be inferior tea that is imported from Nepal and is sold as premium Darjeeling tea.
India imports a significant amount of tea from Nepal.In the period 2020-21, almost 10.74 million kilograms of tea were imported from its Himalayan neighbors.
However, a standing committee was advised due to the large quantities of inferior tea from Nepal being incorrectly branded as Darjeeling tea The premium cost of genuine Darjeeling tea in the global market is undercutting.
This is due to the fact that tea that comes from Nepal is offered at a significantly lower cost due to their lower price of production and a poor manufacturing process.
As a result, huge economic losses are being made by India’s budget.
It was also stated that over half of the tea imports of India originate from Nepal as per in the report on Darjeeling Tea recently tabled in the Parliament.
The committee standing in the middle was astonished to learn that the unimpeded and easy flow of inferior tea from neighbouring countries, particularly Nepal is threatening the tea industry in India.
It is a travesty to see that the poor quality tea that comes from Nepal is being re-exported and sold as premium Darjeeling tea that is not only affecting the image of the global brand of India and also affects the tea prices in the country according to reports.
The tea industry is the core of the economic activity of Darjeeling district in West Bengal and the increase in fraud of Darjeeling tea is danger to the production of tea as well as the lives of small tea farmers in the region.
“The fake Darjeeling tea that comes from Nepal discredits the concept of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” as a model of the government,” said the report.
The committee recommended that the concerned department to take strict and diligent measures to stop the import of cheap and of low-quality tea from neighboring countries, particularly Nepal.
The committee also recommended the establishment of an NABL accredited quality control laboratory in Darjeeling district to verify the compliance of high-quality standards of every batch of tea imported from the United States.
It stated that an investigation must be carried out by the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) into the dumping of tea from Nepal and also to suggest remedial measures and the imposition of anti-dumping duties on tea imports.
kvm/arm
