October 14: A motion with 11 serious allegations against Nepal’s tea industry has been registered in the Provincial Assembly of West Bengal, India alleging that the tea produced in Nepal has discredited the Darjeeling tea in the world market. If the registered motion is passed, there will be a problem for the tea produced in Nepal to get access to the Indian market. Nepal has been exporting tea worth Rs 3.5 billion to India annually.

According to the National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB), 11,920 metric tons of tea valued at Rs 3.79 billion rupees was exported to 33 different countries of the world in the fiscal year 2020/21. Among this, 11,472 tons of tea worth Rs 3.38 billion was exported to India alone. If India decides to ban Nepal’s tea, the farmers and tea producers of Nepal will lose a big market. Tea is cultivated in an area of ​​17,000 hectares in Nepal by 24,000 farmers. There are 146 small and big industries related to tea. The farmers, industrialists and businessmen involved with the tea industry are now in panic after it has become almost certain that Nepalese farmers will lose 80 percent of the market if they are not able to export tea to India.

According to NTCDB, 80 percent of tea from Nepal, including CTC and orthodox tea, goes to the Indian market and 20 percent to other 32 countries including the US, China, and the UK.

The data of the Department of Customs shows that tea worth Rs 2.78 billion was exported in 2019/20, Rs 3.79 billion in 2020/21 and Rs 3.43 billion in 2021/22 to third countries as well as neighbouring India.

Suresh Mittal, the central president of Nepal Tea Producers Association said that tea farmers and industrialists of Nepal are distressed after a motion to ban tea from Nepal was registered with the Parliamentary Committee on Commerce and Trade in the Parliament of India with the signatures of 40 MPs.

Although the motion was registered two months ago, Mittal maintains that the threat is considerable as the Indian government or its subordinate bodies has not issued any official view regarding it.

Mittal informed that they submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Indian Embassy in Nepal to take initiatives to avoit a ban on Nepali tea before the Indian government takes any unpleasant decision.

According to Mittal, 'G2G' talks should be held to resolve the non-customs barriers imposed by the Indian side on Nepalese tea and other issues.

Udaya Chapagain, advisor to the Nepal Tea Planters Association, said that the tea exported from Nepal to India is being obstructed from time to time by various levels of the government and the tea board of India, making the traders suffers under various pretexts. He emphasized that the problems related to tea export should be resolved once and for all through discussions between the governments of both the countries. He said that the government of Nepal should also take initiatives to export indigenous tea to China. Foreign Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka raised the issue of exporting tea and herbs from Nepal during his latest visit to China.