Turmoil may take toll on tea trade

KOLKATA: The fate of the beleaguered tea industry in Darjeeling may worsen further if political turmoil continues unabated, feel key industry players.
"If the problem continues till the beginning of March, when the first flush starts, it is certainly going to impact prices," Krishan Katyal, deputy managing director, J Thomas said.
"If political problems and shutdowns continue, it will spell the doom for the Darjeeling tea industry.If peace is not restored within the first week of March, it will be a real problem," said Arun N Singh, managing director and chief executive officer of Goodricke Group Limited.
Goodricke has seven gardens and five factories in Darjeeling with a combined production capacity of around 8,00,000kg a year. He said though there was no production work or dispatch work going on in the gardens, political volatility impacted maintenance work.
Raja Banerjee, owner of Makaibari Tea Estate, echoed a similar concern, saying, "If the problem continues, the first flush will take a big hit. It will have negative impact on the workforce. They (workers) will remain in a dilemma on whether to join work or not."
BK Birla group tea company Jay Shree Tea & Industries' managing director D P Maheshwari said: "If the political problems remain, the Darjeeling tea industry will be ruined."