January 16, 2009
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India
Ramesh tips for tea exportOUR CORRESPONDENT 
Ramesh (third from left) lays the foundation stone for the North Bengal Tea Park in Siliguri on Thursday. (Kundan Yolmo) Siliguri, Jan. 15: Jairam Ramesh today asked tea planters in north Bengal to tap markets abroad rather than be content with sales in other parts of the country.
The Union minister of state for commerce and industries said although around one-fourth of Indian tea was produced in the region, the brew manufactured in the Dooars and the Terai had no foreign markets.
Ramesh, who laid the foundation stones of the first Tea Park in the country and an inland container depot or dry port at New Jalpaiguri, said: “There are several potential markets in the overseas and the planters of the region should explore them instead of remaining satisfied with selling tea to northern, central and eastern states in the country.”
With a separate logo for the tea grown in the Dooars and the Terai, Ramesh said, the planters here had increased chances of export, but the only thing was that they had to meet the stiff challenges posed by producers in Kenya and Sri Lanka. “The focus should be on the production of quality tea and the park to come up here can play a key role in augmenting the export.”
According to the minister, Russia, England and West Asian countries are the main markets for CTC tea, produced in bulk across the country. “The demand for CTC tea has increased in at least four other countries, namely, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan, over the past few years. We are doing well in Egypt and are likely to grab the markets in two other countries. But there are some restrictions on doing business with Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks. We are hopeful that the bilateral trade with Pakistan will resume soon.”
On the closed tea gardens in the Dooars — only two of 14 estates are functioning now — Ramesh said central and state governments had constraints in re-opening them as there were many court orders which in essence made the possible takeover of the plantations difficult.
Bengal ministers Nirupam Sen and Asok Bhattacharya were present at the ceremony.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090116/jsp/siliguri/story_10395596.jsp
