Tripura Tea is setting eyes in global market and chalking out strategies to beat the competitors and make entry into foreign markets. Primarily, Tripura is mulling over making entry into Bangladesh markets. However, Sri Lanka is, at present, the main player in Bangladesh.
In this connection, Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) Chairman Santosh Saha on Saturday said the state government as well as the Corporation is contemplating to replace Sri Lankan tea from Bangladesh markets.
“Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had initiated talks at different levels in the central government to export Tripura tea in the Bangladesh market. Multiple times, proposals have been also forwarded to the Bangladesh government to allow Tripura to get its unique blended tea exported to the Bangladesh markets. Apart from that, we are also participating in the tea auction markets of various states”, said Saha.
Notably, after BJP-led Government came into power in Tripura in 2018, the tea industry started gaining rolling and gaining momentum. Branding and marketing strategies helped the Tripura Tea to mark a strong impact in local markets of the State.
Saha, who had inaugurated two pouch packing units in the TTDC owned Durgabari tea estate, also said, “Tripura tea has fetched its highest ever price in the auction markets. Tripura tea never crossed the Rs 220 mark in the past years whereas last year we sold tea at Rs 274 per Kg. Moreover, the initiative of distributing tea through the PDS system shot up the domestic consumption of Tripura tea manifolds”.
The new pouch packing machines that were installed on Saturday cost Rs 12 lakh. Each of the machines has the capacity to make 30,000 pouch packets of 100 gram.
On the production, he said, TTDC has two factories operational in the state–Durgabari and Brahmakunda. The total production of 2020 stood at more than 7 lakh Kgs of tea. Tea industry in Tripura is the oldest surviving industry with a history of more than hundred years and more than 20,000 workers involved in various levels directly.