Tea worth Rs 1.5 billion exported in first four months of FY 2023/24

Kathmandu / Nov 26: Tea worth about Rs 1.5 billion rupees was exported in the first four months of the current fiscal year.

In the first four months of the current fiscal year, tea exports worth Rs 1.49 billion (5.7 million kg) have been reported by the Department of Customs (DoC).

The main market for the Nepali tea is India. Businessmen have said that the demand for the Nepali tea is increasing in other countries as well.

The Nepali tea has been exported to Germany, France, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Italy, Japan, India, China, America, UK and other countries. Dinesh Agarwal, a tea trader of Ilam’s Fikkal, said that the demand for organic tea that does not use pesticides is increasing in overseas countries.

According to the Tea and Coffee Development Board, tea is cultivated in about 27,000 hectares in Nepal. From that cultivated area, 23,745 metric tons of tea is produced annually. More than 17,000 farmers are involved in tea cultivation.

According to the Board, about 28 million kilos of tea is being produced in Nepal annually. According to data, only 0.5 percent of this amount of tea is consumed in the domestic market.

About 99 percent of tea produced in Nepal is produced in Koshi Province. Tea is cultivated mainly in Ilam, Jhapa, Panchthar, Dhankuta and other districts of Koshi. However, in recent times, tea cultivation has expanded in Dolakha, Ramechhap, Sindhupalchowk, Kaski, Lamjung, Lalitpur and other districts.

There are 68 large tea industries operating in Nepal including 30 producing orthodox tea and 38 producing CTC tea. Similarly, more than 150 small processing industries producing orthodox tea are in operation.