SNS, Siliguri, 28 January 2025: North Bengal’s tea industry is reeling under the impact of the Tea Board’s controversial decision to halt green tea leaf plucking from 30 November 2024. The move has triggered widespread outrage among small tea growers, who allege that the premature closure has caused massive production losses and deprived the state of nearly Rs 1,000 crore in GST revenue.
Taking note of the crisis during her recent visit to Alipurduar, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had directed an investigation into the rationale behind the Tea Board’s contentious decision.
In response, the Jalpaiguri District Small Tea Growers Association (JDSTGA) has shared its concerns over the significant losses incurred by the early closure of tea gardens. In a letter to the Chief Minister, JDSTGA highlighted that the early closure has not only reduced tea production but also resulted in a loss of approximately Rs 1,000 crore in GST revenue for the state government.
A JDSTGA official, Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty, stated that Bengal produced nearly four crore kilograms of tea in December 2023. The Tea Board’s 2024 decision for early closure, aligning Bengal’s plucking dates with Assam’s, disrupted this output and led to a crop loss of around 15 percent, the highest among all tea-producing states. The state’s tea production dropped from 433.54 million kg in 2023 to 369.17 million kg up to November 2024.
According to Mr. Chakraborty, the Tea Board implemented the early closure policy eight years ago to manage oversupply and prevent poor-quality production during winter. However, Bengal traditionally allowed plucking until the third week of December. This schedule consistently yielded good-quality tea over the past five years.
The association emphasized the financial struggles of around 50,000 small tea growers in Bengal.
