India to study potential of new markets for tea exports

1. At a Glance

• Tea exports are being redirected toward new markets after the war involving Iran hit shipments to Iran. The Commerce Ministry says it is focusing on markets such as Oman, whose purchases of Indian tea are rising. [1]
• West Asia is a major destination, at about 115 mkg (million kg) of Indian tea exports, with Iran and Iraq especially important. That makes geopolitical shocks in the region a direct export risk. [2]
• The Tea Board is relying on market diversification to hold exports near last year's level. [2]
• UPSC angle: this links export-market concentration, West Asia geopolitics, plantation-sector stress (imports and planter concerns) and statutory commodity boards.

2. Why in the News

• Amit Kumar, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, spoke on the sidelines of the UPASI annual conference in Coonoor. He said India is encouraging tea exporters to explore new markets because shipments to Iran are hit by the war. [1]
• He named Oman as a market increasing its purchases of Indian tea. [1]
• Asked about rising tea imports and planters' concerns, he said the focus is on increasing exports to diverse markets. [1]
• The article appeared in The Hindu (Chennai print edition), 24 Sept 2026, p. 13. [1]

3. Background & Evolution

• The Tea Act, 1953 created the statutory Tea Board, headquartered in Kolkata. The present Board under Section 4 was constituted on 1 April 1954. The Board sits under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. [5]
• Per that same search summary, Section 26 empowers the Board to regulate tea exports. The summary came from non-whitelisted aggregators, so verify it on India Code. [5]
• Iran was earlier flagged as poised to overtake Russia as India's largest tea importer (2019 report). This shows the long-standing dependence on the Iran/West Asia market. [6]
• 2025: record exports, offsetting losses in Russia and the US through gains in Iran and Iraq. [S4, S3]
• 2026: the West Asia conflict cut early-year volumes, prompting the diversification push. [2]

4. Core Static Facts

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Economic

• Export volumes fell sharply in Q1 2026 (54.69 vs 69.24 mkg), and April was 3–4% lower, largely on geopolitical factors. [2]
• Diversification cushions price and volume risk. The Tea Board plans promotional activities in targeted markets. [2]
• Planters are worried about tea imports. The government's answer is export expansion, not import curbs. [1]

Geopolitical / Strategic

• Exposure to Iran and Iraq means conflict and sanctions risk feeds straight into export volumes. [S2, S4]
• Oman is emerging as an alternative West Asian buyer. [1]
• Gains in Iran and Iraq had offset losses in Russia and the US in 2025. This shows how tea trade shifts with geopolitics. [4]

Administrative / Governance

• Market development is coordinated between the Commerce Ministry and the Tea Board, while planters' associations such as UPASI voice industry concerns. [S1, S2]
• The Tea Board holds statutory powers over the sector under the Tea Act, 1953. [5]

Social

• Planter concerns over imports reflect livelihood stress in tea-growing regions. The article does not give figures for this.

6. Recent Developments (last 12-18 months)

• Oct 2025: West Asia (Iran, Iraq) demand offset export losses to Russia and the US. [4]
• Early 2026: exports touched an all-time high (280.40 mkg in 2025). [3]
• Jan–Mar 2026: exports fell to 54.69 mkg from 69.24 mkg because of the West Asia conflict. [2]
• Jun 2026: the Tea Board looked to new markets and promotions to protect export levels. [2]
• 23–24 Sept 2026: the Commerce Ministry signalled a push toward Oman and other diverse markets. [1]

7. Prelims Hooks

• Tea Board was established under the Tea Act, 1953. [5]
• The present Tea Board was constituted on 1 April 1954 under Section 4. [5]
• Tea Board HQ: Kolkata. [5]
• Parent ministry: Commerce and Industry (not Agriculture). [S1, S5]
• Oman is cited as a growing buyer of Indian tea. [1]
• UPASI's annual conference was held in Coonoor. [1]
• Exports to Iraq rose from 40.47 to 52.59 mkg (2024→2025). [2]
• Exports to Iran rose from 9.25 to 11.25 mkg (2024→2025). [2]
• India's tea exports hit a record in 2025. [3]
• West Asia accounts for about 115 mkg of India's tea exports. [2]

8. Losing Iran Is Not Only About Iran — It Is About the Route and the Payment

• Most tea for Iran never sails straight to Iran.
• Indian tea bound for Iran is mostly shipped through Dubai in the UAE, which works as a re-export hub [9].
• So when the UAE stops or slows trade with Tehran, Indian tea stops moving even if Iranian buyers still want it [9].

• Finding a new buyer in Oman does not repair this. The problem is the shipping channel, not the demand.

• The old payment trick is also breaking.

• India and Iran used a rupee arrangement: Iran could pay in rupees held against India's oil purchases [4].
• That arrangement is what let Indian exporters grow in Iran while sellers from other countries hesitated [4].

• New US sanctions on Iran now threaten this route too [9]. A tea exporter can find a buyer in a new market, but cannot by himself build a new way to get paid.

• What follows for the answer sheet: market diversification is a sales strategy. Route risk and payment risk need the Commerce Ministry, the Ministry of External Affairs and the RBI, not the Tea Board alone.

9. New Markets Will Not Pay More If We Keep Selling Loose Tea

• About 87% of India's tea exports go out in bulk form — loose, unbranded tea sold by weight [10].
• The buyer abroad blends it, puts his own brand on it, and earns the retail margin.

• India earns the farm-gate price; the foreign packer earns the shelf price.

• This is why a record volume year does not mean a record earnings year.

• 2025 saw the highest-ever export volume, 280.40 mkg [3].

• But volume growth in a bulk trade only means selling more of a cheap product.

• Selling to Oman instead of Iran does not change this. The same loose tea, only a different port — unless value addition comes with it.

• What should be done, and by whom:
• The Tea Board already runs export promotion in target markets [2]. Tie that promotion money to branded and packaged shipments, not to bulk tonnage.
• Use India's GI tags — Darjeeling, Assam, Nilgiri — as the branding tool in new markets. The Tea Board's Deputy Chairman has himself said the industry must "reimagine" exports and move up the value chain [10].

10. Why Exports Cannot Answer the Small Grower's Price Problem

• The Joint Secretary answered a question about imports and planter distress by pointing to exports [1]. These are two different problems.
• The grower's pain is a price problem at home, not a volume problem abroad.
• Small growers sell green leaf (the freshly plucked leaf) to factories, which make the final tea.
• In 2025 growers reported selling green leaf at ₹14–15 a kg, against ₹30 a kg a year earlier [7].

• Cost of production is roughly ₹17–20 a kg [7]. Below cost, extra export demand does not reach the grower — the factory buys the leaf, and the factory decides the price.

• The body meant to protect that price has not been meeting.

• Assam has a Green Leaf Price Monitoring Committee in each tea district, meant to fix the price factories must pay growers.
• The CAG found it did not meet even once in 10 of Assam's 18 tea districts between 2016-17 and 2020-21 [8].

• A rule that exists but never meets is the same as no rule.

• What should be done:

• Small growers' bodies have asked the Centre for a fair price discovery mechanism for green leaf [11]. That is the direct fix, and it sits with the Tea Board and state governments — not with Oman.
• Make the district price committee meetings a published, time-bound duty, since the CAG has already shown that leaving it optional means it does not happen [8].

11. The Import Question the Ministry Stepped Around

• Cheap imported tea is priced below what Indian growers can match.
• Imported tea has entered at about USD 1.5–1.7 (roughly ₹130–140) a kg, which planters say is pulling down domestic auction prices [7].
• Tea from Nepal enters duty-free, at around half the price of Darjeeling tea, and gets blended in [12].

• Once blended, the buyer cannot tell the difference — so the GI tag on Darjeeling tea does not protect its price [12].

• Planters have asked for a 100% import duty or a minimum import price — a floor below which imported tea cannot be sold [7].

• The honest counter-argument: some imported tea is brought in, blended and sent out again, so a hard duty would raise costs for exporters too — the very people the Ministry is now asking to chase new markets. Growers and exporters want opposite things here.
• Where that leaves the policy: a blanket duty hurts the export push, but a minimum import price plus strict rules-of-origin checks on Nepal tea targets only the cheap blending trade. That is the narrower tool, and the Ministry has not said why it is not using it [1].

12. What Is Actually Right About the Government's Answer

• Diversification has already worked once, and recently. In 2025 losses in Russia and the US were covered by new demand from Iran and Iraq [4]. The same tea simply found different buyers. So the Ministry is not inventing a hope — it is repeating something that worked.
• The limit of that success: the replacement markets were in one region, West Asia, around 115 mkg [2]. Replacing one West Asian market with another West Asian one (Iran with Oman) keeps the same regional risk. One conflict still hits everything at once.
• The test to apply in an answer: diversification is real only when the new markets sit in different risk zones and use different payment routes. Judge the Oman push on that, not on tonnage.

13. Anchors for Answers

• Data: ~87% of India's tea exports leave in bulk, unbranded form — the reason volume records do not become earnings records [10]
• Data: Green leaf fell to ₹14–15/kg for small growers against a cost of production of ₹17–20/kg [7]
• Data: Jan–Mar 2026 exports 54.69 mkg against 69.24 mkg a year earlier [2]
• Report/Committee: CAG audit on Assam tea — Green Leaf Price Monitoring Committees did not meet even once in 10 of 18 tea districts, 2016-17 to 2020-21 [8]
• Law/Case: Tea Act, 1953 — statutory Tea Board; Section 26 powers over exports (verify on India Code) [5]
• Comparison: Nepal tea enters India duty-free at about half the price of Darjeeling tea and is blended into it, weakening the GI tag [12]
• Scheme: Tea Board export promotion and market development activity in target markets — the lever available for shifting shipments from bulk to branded [2]

14. Mains Relevance

• GS-III: Indian Economy, including agriculture and plantation crops, export and marketing issues, and government interventions.
• GS-II: International Relations, covering the effect of West Asia developments on India's interests.
• Likely question stems:
• Export diversification is the best hedge against geopolitical shocks. Discuss with reference to Indian tea. (GS-III)
• Examine how conflict in West Asia affects India's agricultural exports and what policy responses are available. (GS-II/III)
• Discuss the role of commodity boards in export promotion and the challenges facing the plantation sector. (GS-III)

15. Related Topics to Study Next

• Commodity boards (Coffee, Rubber, Spices): the same statutory export-promotion model as the Tea Board.
• Plantation Labour Act, 1951: the labour and social side of the tea sector.
• West Asia geopolitics and the Iran conflict: the driver of the export disruption.
• India–Oman CEPA: the trade framework relevant to Oman as a new market.
• Tea imports and Rules of Origin: the origin of planters' import concerns.
• Export promotion (MAI, RoDTEP): the fiscal tools behind market development.
• Agri-export policy and diversification: the wider policy context.
• GI tags (Darjeeling, Assam, Nilgiri tea): branding in export markets.

16. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• The Tea Board comes under Commerce, not the Ministry of Agriculture.
• Do not confuse the Tea Act, 1953 with the British Tea Act, 1773.
• Export figures differ by basis. 2025 is a calendar year, while 2025-26 is a financial year. Check which is used. [S3, S2]
• Iran and Iraq are separate markets with different volumes. Do not merge them. [2]
• The article only says Oman is increasing purchases. It gives no volume figures.