October 16: The export of tea, which used to shrink every year, has increased significantly in the current fiscal year.

The tea estates used to be in loan until now despite promotion by the government. However, the export of tea has increased by 174 percent since the start of the current fiscal year, according to government data.

Nepal had exported tea worth Rs 640.23 million in the first two months of the last fiscal year. But the export of tea in the corresponding period of the current fiscal  year has increased to Rs 1.58 billion, according to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre.

According to the data provided by the centre, the country exported 2.35 million kilograms of tea during the last fiscal year. The export has increased to 5.31 million kilograms in the first three months of the current fiscal year.

Stakeholders say that the sudden increase in export of tea is the decline in production in India.

Chairman of the Tea Association of Nepal Kamal Mainali says that the demand for tea produced in Nepal has increased significantly in India because of the decline in production in the southern neighbor owing to Covid-19 and adverse weather.

“The production of tea has declined by 25 percent in India. Therefore the demand for tea manufactured in Nepal has gone up,” says Mainali.

He further said that the tea farmers in Nepal are getting good price for their product. But stakeholders say that although the export of tea has increased, the production has remained the same.

They say that the export of tea is subject to fluctuation and can increase or decline. However, the export of tea increased significantly this year. This has put tea in the second place among the most exported products.

Rabin Rai, general secretary of the Central Tea Cooperatives Association, says that although the export has skyrocketed in the initial period of the current fiscal year, the overall export is expected to remain almost similar to previous years. - RSS