October 21: The Tea Board of India has lifted the ban imposed on blending of tea produced in Nepal with Darjeeling tea.  The export of tea produced in Nepal is expected to grow with the board’s decision to remove the ban that was in place since one year.

Tata Consumer Products Limited had written a letter to the Tea Board of India requesting the board to allow mixing of tea produced in Nepal and other provinces of India with the tea produced in Darjeeling.

The board ruled in favour of Tata and lifted the ban effective from Tuesday (October 18).

According to the Telegraph, the Tea Board of India issued a notification on Tuesday which will let sellers mix Darjeeling tea with any other varieties, especially Nepal tea in their packs — as long as the end product does not claim to be an exclusive item covered by the geographical indication (GI) label.

Earlier, the board had issued a notice instructing tea producers to place tags in tea packs that clearly show the GI lable indicating the origin of the tea. The notice issued on November 11, 2021 had also banned mixing of tea produced in different places. Due to this decision, the sale of Darjeeling tea took a nosedive and had to be sold at throw-away prices.

President of Nepal Tea Producers Association Suresh Mittal welcomed the latest decision of the Tea Board of India and said that the move is expected to boost the sale of tea produced in Nepal.

According to Mittal, Tata Consumer Products Limited had stopped purchasing tea produced in Darjeeling about a year ago after the board made it mandatory to keep GI labels which did not allow blending of a varieties of tea.

Tata Consumer Products Limited had been purchasing over one thousand tons of tea produced in Darjeeling. This amount is 15 percent of the total production in the region.

The decision to ban the mixing of tea did not go well with some of the board members and also the central ministry. Due to the setback in sale, the board finally decided to revoke the decision.

The board’s decision is a relief to the tea industry of Nepal which is facing stiff opposition from Indian lawmakers in the parliament.

A total of 40 MPs of India had filed a motion in the Provincial Assembly of West Bengal with 11 serious allegations against Nepal’s tea industry, 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. However, the board’s decision is likely to favour Nepal, says Mittal.

Nepal has been exporting tea worth Rs 3.5 billion to India annually.