India-UK FTA to Boost Assam Tea Sector: CM; Growers Seek Price Protection

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) signed yesterday between India and the UK would boost the tea sector in Assam.

The Chief Minister said, "Under the FTA, Indian tea will get zero duty access to the UK, joining instant coffee, spices, and other agri-products."

Assam is the largest tea-producing state in India. Fifty percent of the total tea produced in India is from Assam. Assam is known for its large tea-growing areas and production of both CTC and Orthodox Black Tea. In 2024, Assam produced around 654 million kg of tea.

The Chief Minister said, "The UK currently accounts for about 5.6 percent of India's total tea exports-this figure is poised to grow significantly, thanks to the FTA, and Assam stands to get the most from it. Not just tea, it's a strategic boost to India's broader agricultural export ambition, supporting the goal of hitting about $100 billion in agri exports by 2030."

The Chief Minister said, "The FTA is set to transform the gain for tea exports, among other industries."

Under the caption 'Assam Tea: Taste that enchants all,' the Chief Minister wrote on his X handle, "The taste of Assam Tea-relished by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of the UK Keir Starmer during Modi's visit to the UK."

On the other hand, India's tea growers keep demanding to implement the minimum protection price for tea to shield growers from adversity whose livelihood was threatened due to a decline in prices. The tea growers of Assam and North Bengal continue to face rough times. Overall tea prices in most cases failed to meet the cost of production, pushing many growers into the red. For about two years, the Indian tea-growing fraternity has been making impassioned pleas with the Tea Board of India to help implement a sustainable pricing model for Indian teas.

According to sources, the India Tea Association (ITA) and the Tea Association of India (TAI) have written to the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter of minimum protection prices for tea. The associations also urged the chief ministers of the tea-growing states to implement the minimum protection price. The associations also requested the prime minister to urgently consider a proposal to bring tea under the Ministry of Agriculture given that tea comprises primarily agricultural activities. According to the association, tea qualifies to be classified as an agricultural commodity for various reasons, such as (i) agricultural tax is leviable, (ii) 80 percent of workers are engaged in agricultural activities such as planting, use of fertiliser, plucking, maintenance of bushes, etc., (iii) plantation of tea is essentially land-based, which is requisite for any agricultural activity, and (iv) tea falls within the definition of agricultural produce under central tax.

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