Tea as national drink? Nilgiris on cloud nine

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Notwithstanding the fluctuations in the prices for green tea leaves, tea growers and those connected with the tea industry in the hills here, the tea capital of south India, welcomed the announcement of planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia that tea would be accorded national drink status by next April.

Describing the announcement as great and an honour to tea-growers Mr J.B. Subramanian, founder-president of the Nilgiris small and tiny tea growers association, said everyday life in the country starts with a drink of tea. Though late, this honour will certainly help further popularise tea.

For the nearly 60,000 small and tiny tea growers in the Nilgiris, it is hoped that the national status for tea will bring in remunerative price for tea-growers to sustain the tea industry in the hills.

Saying that it is a welcome move, Mr Ramesh Bojarajan, president of the Nilgiris bought leaf tea manufactures association, said those in the tea industry can hope that tea would get more attention from the government once it is accorded the national drink status.

Stating that 900 million kg of tea is produced in India in a year, of which 700 million kg is used for domestic consumption, Mr Bojarajan said the tea board of India should take aggressive promotion campaign to further popularise tea and its health benefits.

If everyone in the country decides to consume at least one extra cup of tea every day, it is more than enough to bring good revenue to tea-growers and those in the tea industry, he advocated.

Mr R. Ambalavanan, executive director of the tea board of India zonal office at Coonoor, said “Tea is considered poor man’s drink.

According national status to tea will help promote tea and benefit millions of people involved in the tea industry in the country.”

He said a little over 250 million kg of tea is produced per annum in south India wherein around 1 lakh hectares is under tea cultivation, he added.