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`S. India has excellent teas to offer for exports'

Our Bureau

COIMBATORE, July 16

SOUTH India is yet to capitalise on some of the excellent tea varieties it can offer to the world market, Mr.S.S. Ahuja, Chairman, Tea Board, has observed.

Inaugurating here the South India Tea Exporters Association (SITEA) - the first association of tea exporters in the country, Mr. Ahuja called upon the exporting community to ``tap the potential with tea as the basic product''. He pointed out that quality upgradation, value addition, unique blend to suit a particular market requirement and aggressive marketing would go a long way in establishing a niche market for the Indian tea in the world market.

While welcoming the rise in tea exports from the South (which had more than doubled from 40 million kg in the 80s to over 97 mkg last year), Mr. Ahuja said ``some of the excellent teas from India are from the South. There is an urgent need to tap at lea st some of these resources, built over a period of time''.

Stating that the increased turnover volumes was not the only indicator for growth, he said, `about five decades back, India's share in the world's tea exports was better than what it is today.''

In marketing, he said, some of the best products in the world were backed by strong associations. He called upon the tea trade association, SITEA and other associate bodies to extend their support in promoting the Indian teas abroad. He said both the Gov ernment and the Board played only a catalytic role in promotional efforts. He said the trade associations could help the Tea Board in certifying the credentials of the exporters.

Mr. Ahuja suggested a database on tea export movements, newer market requirements etc. to assess at any point of time the strength of the Indian tea exporters vis-a-vis others. He hinted at the need for greater interaction between the producers and expor ters, to eliminate the inefficiencies on the production side and for a better understanding of the market requirement.

The Tea Board Chairman said the industry failed to explore the market potential for speciality teas, green tea, iced tea, flavoured tea etc. He pointed out that the iced tea segment offered enormous scope but required huge investments and aggressive mark eting. The changing preferences in tastes, particularly among the youth, indicated that the whole market was oriented towards newer products.

Tea industry confident on higher export target

THE tea industry is confident of achieving a higher export target during the current fiscal.

It has estimated the export of tea at 225 mkg compared to 190 mkg during the previous year. The exports during the first quarter of the current fiscal have risen by four to five mkg compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Talking to presspersons, after inaugurating the South India Tea Exporters' Association here, Mr. S.S. Ahuja, Chairman, Tea Board, said ``the industry will be able to tide over its present crisis, of crashing price levels and rising production costs, as i t is cyclical''.

To help the industry tide over the present crisis, he said the Government had taken a series of measures which included a subsidy of Rs. 5 per kg of `made tea' (Rs. 1.25 per kg of green leaf), a 50-per cent cut in the sales tax rate, launching of a quali ty upgradation programme, a blanket ban on reconditioned teas from outside the State and tapping of newer markets abroad. Mr. Vikram Kapoor, Chief Regional Executive, Tea Board, Coonoor, said Rs. 50 lakhs had been disbursed to the small growers under the subsidy scheme.

In a bid to explore newer markets, an Indian tea delegation had visited Syria and Jordan, Mr. Ahuja said and added that a special buyer-seller meet was recently held in Dubai and such meets had been planned in other countries as well. Replying to a query about the stagnation in domestic tea consumption, the Tea Board Chairman said ``there is some apprehension on this''.

He said the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, had been assigned the task, and a report was expected very soon. Based on the report neecessary measures would be initiated.

Mr. Ahuja said the industry's slogan was `Productivity, Quality and Sustainability'. But it had repositioned its stand for the South Indian tea sector as `Quality, Productivity and Sustainability'.

To upgrade the image of the industry in the proper perspective, he said the Tea Board had recommended a 50-per cent subsidy on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point certification in the first year of the programme, 40-per cent in the second year and 20-per cent in the third year.