In the first quarter of calendar 2009, India’s tea import bill has risen by Rs 19.78 crore over the same period of last year as more volume has been imported at a higher price.
An analysis of the latest information available with the Tea Board reveals that between January and March, India imported 4.81 million kg paying Rs 83 a kg against 3.05 million kg at Rs 66 a kg in 2008.
Consequently, the overall import bill rose to Rs 39.91 crore from Rs 20.13 crore. This marked an increase of 98.26 per cent.
Tea has come in from a dozen sources including some trading outlets.
The largest volume of 1.11 million kg (last year: 0.59 million kg) came from Nepal, followed Vietnam by at 0.83 million kg (0.17 million kg).
The costliest tea came from Sri Lanka at Rs 236.25 a kg (Rs 122.46), followed by the UK Rs 159.75 (Rs 193.94). The cheapest tea came from Canada Rs 38.49 for the first time followed by the UAE Rs 47.37, also for the first time.
India paid the highest import bill of Rs 9.71 crore (Rs 5.54 crore) to Kenya, followed by Nepal Rs 7.44 crore (Rs 3.31 crore) and Indonesia Rs 5.61 crore (Rs 4.62 crore).
Source : Business Line