Tea Gardens in North Bengal

Tea Gardens – Large scale 277
Small Growers 2,500
Bought-leaf Factories 70+

Along with tourism, tea is the major industrial sector in North Bengal. Tea alone generates an annual turnover of 8 million USD, which is more than the turnover of the tourism industry. There are around 350 tea gardens in the North Bengal region that provides employment to about 3.5 lakh people working in the tea gardens. It produces around 200 million kg of tea of the total 830 million kg of tea produced in the country per annum.

The tea industry of the region is not only a major factor in the economic stability of the region; it also plays a major role in contributing towards the environment and the society.
Large acres of tea plantations provides much needed greenery to maintain the ecological balance of the region, and at the same time it increases the aesthetic value of the landscapes. Tea industry also has the potential to encompass the tourism industry, and already such a plan is being formulated to create a package called ‘Tea Tourism’. Tea garden areas not only provide magnificent landscapes; visitors can also get a glimpse of the different cultures, traditions and customs of the many ethnic races populating the tea garden areas.

The climate of the North Bengal region provides an ideal condition for growing different types of teas. In the Darjeeling region, Whole leaves, Broken Leaves and Fannings are of the best quality while in the other parts of North Bengal the CTC and the Green Leaves are among the best in the country. Along with Black tea, green leaves are also in great demand because of their medicinal properties in curing hypertension, diabetes and obesity.

What’s Brewing?

Remember, that hot and savory cup of tea in your table reached there due to the hard work of thousands of people bending their backs in the tea gardens. And at present the Tea industry in the region is going through a tumultuous phase of lockdowns, protest, riots, starvations and deaths. The primary reason for the unrest among the workers is the abysmally low wages that they receive in this inflationary age.

While the workers of the tea gardens in the Terai and the Dooars region receive only a daily wage of Rs 47.40, they demand a minimum wage of at least Rs. 88 a day which seems reasonable. But this demand has been turned down by the Coordination Committee of Planters’ Association, who are willing to hike the wage by Rs. 6 only over a three year period.

However, it must be stated that the Tea growers in the region is also facing a lot of problems due to high cost of production, increased competition and lack of demand from traditional tea importing countries. In the domestic market while it faces competition from the state of Assam and other tea producing states, in the international market it faces huge competition from Nepal, Vietnam, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Indonesia who have the advantage of less cost in production leading to cheaper rates. The tea industry in India has also been hit adversely by the dismantling of the Soviet Union and decrease in exports owing to competition from other tea producing countries. If the Indian tea industry is to survive, it is imperative that the cost of production should be reduced to benchmark it against other tea producing countries in the international market.

Tea organisations in North Bengal

• North Bengal Tea Producers Association
• Dooars Branch of Indian Tea Association
• Tea Research Association
• Darjeeling Planters Association, Calcutta
• United Forum of Small Tea Growers Association
• Indian Tea Planters Association, Jalpaiguri
• Terai Indian Planters Association, Matigara, Darjeeling
• Tea Board of India, Siliguri Office

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