Fin stress for Tea Inc goes up: Planters

Kolkata: Financial stress of the tea industry in the state compounds further owing to production losses caused by adverse climatic conditions, said the Indian Tea Association (ITA), the largest planters’ body in India, in a tweet on Monday.According to ITA, the unfavourable weather has impacted the state’s tea production and taken a toll on sustainability and viability.In another tweet, marking @MamataOfficial, @GhatakMoloy, @DoC_GoI, @teaboardofindia, the planters’ body said: “The year-on-year (YoY) crop loss at ITA’s member gardens in West Bengal till May 2023 was 34.2% in Darjeeling, 18.4% in Dooars and 13.2% Terai region.” The root cause as pointed out by the ITA was rainfall loss of 16.7% in Darjeeling, 25.4% in Dooars and 40% Terai during the said period this year.Atul Asthana, MD & CEO, Goodricke, said: “Hail and storm have hit crops in April. It is a very subdued market for new-season teas. Prices were down by over Rs 30-40 a kg in CTC and hardly any demand jumped for orthodox tea amid a huge loss of rainfall. There’s no respite for us.”Vikram Singh Gulia, MD of APPL, too, said Indian tea industry has been witnessing almost 35-40% loss of high-yielding tea crops this season.