Strategy for Tea Sector Reforms in India

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Key takeaways

India is the world's 2nd-largest tea producer and largest consumer of black tea, generating 18.43% of global production and 13.13% of global tea exports in 2024.
The Indian tea sector has undergone a structural transformation, with 2,49,318 small tea growers producing 52% of national tea output as of March 2025.
The organised tea industry directly employs 11.56 lakh workers, with women making up nearly 58% of the workforce in estate plucking operations.
Indian tea exports remain vulnerable to market concentration, as the top 20 destination countries accounted for 88.21% of total shipments between April and December 2025-26.
Revitalising the tea industry requires an integrated landscape approach that combines plantation renewal funds, climate-smart farming, digital quality traceability, and premium brand exports.

India's tea sector urgently needs comprehensive reforms to address growing problems like climate change, aging plantation bushes, and land tenure disputes.
In regions like Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris, tea growers suffer from expired land leases, poor financial returns, and regional environmental degradation.
Policymakers must move beyond isolated solutions and adopt an integrated landscape approach across major growing districts.
This integrated strategy combines climate-smart farming, bush rejuvenation, legal land security, small-grower support, and ecological restoration to build sustainable growth.

Commercial tea comes from the leaves of *Camellia sinensis*
Producers cultivate two main varieties, which are the small-leaved China variety (sinensis) and the larger-leaved Assam variety (assamica).
Tea bushes require a warm, humid, and frost-free climate with temperatures between 20°C and 30°C and annual rainfall of 150-300 cm.
While moist weather encourages repeated leaf growth or flushes, extreme heat, severe drought, hail, and frost hurt crop yield and quality.
The crop thrives in deep, acidic, organic-rich soil with a pH of 4.5-5.5 on sloping land that prevents water stagnation around plant roots.
Plantation operations require extensive manual labour for regular pruning, garden maintenance, and the selective plucking of "two leaves and a bud."
All main tea types come from the same plant species, but black tea undergoes full oxidation, oolong is partially oxidised, green tea is minimally oxidised, and white tea uses young buds.
Farmers grow tea across 15 Indian states, with major commercial output concentrated in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.
Darjeeling Tea was India's first registered Geographical Indication (GI) product, alongside other protected varieties like Assam Orthodox, Nilgiri Orthodox, and Kangra Tea.
The statutory Tea Board of India, set up on 1st April 1954 under the Tea Act, 1953, regulates cultivation, processing, export promotion, and worker welfare under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

British planters established tea gardens across the Shivaliks and Lesser Himalayas, but western regions like Kangra could not match Darjeeling's commercial dominance.
Unlike Darjeeling's high annual rainfall of 309 cm, the western Himalayas suffer from longer dry spells and require artificial irrigation.
Cold winter weather and frequent frost in western areas damage tender leaves and shorten the annual plucking season.
Soils in many western Shivalik areas are shallow and prone to erosion, making them unsuitable for intensive estate farming.
Darjeeling features steep mountain slopes for rapid water drainage, high humidity, mist, and elevations of 600-2,000 metres that enhance tea aroma.
Darjeeling enjoyed direct transport connections to Kolkata's port and auction hubs, whereas western gardens faced high freight costs.
Estates in Darjeeling relied on a steady supply of migrant workers, while western Himalayan gardens lacked a sufficient labour force.
The destructive 1905 Kangra earthquake damaged local infrastructure, leading many European planters to abandon their properties and withdraw capital.

India stands as the world's 2nd-largest tea producer, top consumer of black tea, and 3rd-largest tea exporter in 2024, contributing 18.43% of global output.
The organised tea sector directly employs 11.56 lakh workers, while another 5 to 6 lakh people work in transport, blending, and packaging.
Women make up nearly 58% of the organised workforce, providing vital household income in remote regions like Upper Assam, the Dooars, Darjeeling, and the Nilgiris.
The industry has transformed into a dual system where 2,49,318 small tea growers produce 52% of national output across 2.14 lakh hectares as of March 2025.
Tea drives regional economic development in hilly border areas, led by Assam with 687 million kg and West Bengal with 411 million kg in 2025.
Exporting tea earns crucial foreign exchange without relying on imported raw materials, serving key markets in the UAE, Russia, Iraq, China, and the US.
The sector links agricultural nurseries with processing factories, logistics networks, and research bodies like the Tocklai Tea Research Institute.
Tea estates support thriving tea tourism across scenic regions such as Munnar, Darjeeling, Palampur, and Sikkim's Temi Tea estate.

Erratic weather and heavy flooding caused national tea output to fall from 1,393 million kg in 2023 to 1,303 million kg in 2024, creating severe market instability.
A large portion of tea bushes are old and past peak yield, but replanting requires heavy capital investment and causes multiple years of lost production.
Plantation owners face high operational costs because statutory rules require them to provide housing, medical care, and schooling for worker families.
India relies heavily on bulk exports of lower-value CTC tea instead of expanding production of higher-margin packaged, orthodox, or green teas.
Export sales face geopolitical risks because the top 20 destination countries bought 88.21% of Indian tea exports during April-December 2025-26.
Shipments face potential rejection at foreign ports when chemical residues exceed destination countries' strict Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs).
Unresolved land titles and expired forest leases, such as those under the Gudalur Janmam Estates Act in Tamil Nadu, discourage long-term estate investment.

The government should conduct a national plantation census and launch a Tea Plantation Renewal Fund offering grants and soft loans for replanting.
Authorities must promote climate-smart practices by deploying localized weather alerts, rainwater harvesting, shade trees, and a Tea Climate Risk Index.
Regulators need to organize small tea growers into FPOs and SHGs while enforcing digital price-sharing rules linked to live auction data.
Plantation owners must ensure fair living wages, portable social security, healthcare, and crèches under schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Cha Shramik Protsahan Yojana.
The industry should focus on value addition, international marketing of GI-tagged teas, and expanding tourism circuits across growing states.
Trade officials ought to target new buyers in East Asia, Europe, and North America by supporting Indian direct-to-consumer tea brands.
The Tea Board must establish a digital traceability system and strictly enforce its Plant Protection Code to guarantee quality standard compliance.

Reforming India's tea industry demands a holistic strategy that connects climate adaptation, legal land security, and support for small growers.
By focusing on value addition, worker welfare, and supply chain quality, India can secure its global agricultural standing and rural prosperity.