Himalayan News Service

Guwahati, July 19:

India’s sluggish tea production is showing signs of resurgence this year after yield dipped to a record low in 2004, officials said today. “So far this year we have produced at least 30 million kg more than what we did in the corresponding period last year,” said Dhiraj Kakoty, secretary

of the Assam chapter of the Indian Tea Association (ITA), the country’s apex tea administration body. India produced 820 million kg of tea last year, the lowest annual production in the past 15 years. India is still the world’s largest tea producer followed closely by China.The northeast Indian state of Assam accounts for about 55 per cent of the country’s annual tea production. “The weather conditions this year have so far been favourable unlike in 2004,” Kakoty said.