Tea leaves imported under the free trade agreement from Nepal are being sold in the Indian markets as Darjeeling tea, reported the Deutsche Welle news agency on Friday. Raising concern over the matter, tea growers in West Bengal’s Darjeeling district have now sent a letter to the tea board as well as to the state’s chief minister Mamata Banerjee, requesting measures to curb the problem. A few of the producers even alleged that Nepal is purposely sending ‘substandard tea’, imported from China, to flood the Indian markets.
The increasing inflow and availability of tea from Nepal has had a direct impact on the prices of prestigious Darjeeling tea. According to the report, the price of Darjeeling tea has fallen by 20-25 per cent in the span of just one year…