Tea production up 9% in Apr-Dec to over 1.1 bn kg

New Delhi: India’s tea production in the April-December period of the current fiscal rose by 9 percent to 1,116.98 million kg on account of higher output in Assam and West Bengal. Production in the same period of the 2012-13 financial year was 1,025.01 million kg, according to the Tea Board data.[caption id=“attachment_1371845” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Tea garden in Assam. Firstpost[/caption] The country’s total tea output was up by 3.62 percent at 1,135 million kg in 2012-13. Output in Assam, the largest tea-producing state, was up 5 percent to 607.83 million kg in the April-December period of 2013-14, from 577.13 million kg in the year-ago period. Similarly, in another major tea producing state, West Bengal, production rose by 11 percent to 290 million kg from 262.06 million kg. The combined production of tea in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka increased 16 percent to 195.97 million kg from 168.42 million kg. Assam, West Bengal and South India are the major regions that account for about 90 percent of total tea output in the country. Meanwhile, as per the Indian Tea Association estimates, India’s tea production increased by 6.5 percent to 1,200 million kg last year, against 1,126.33 million kg in 2012. India is the world’s second-largest producer and biggest consumer of tea. PTI