Assam: Tea Association 'NETA' Suggests MS Dhoni As Ambassador To Promote Assam Tea

GUWAHATI: In a bid to elevate India’s per capita consumption of tea and to curb the prevailing supply glut, the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) has appealed to the Assam government to get popular cricketer MS Dhoni on board as the brand ambassador of ‘Assam Tea’.

Kamal Jalan, Chairman of the tea association NETA, pointed out various issues and challenges faced by the tea industry and also discussed how to go about things in the future.

He also urged the Assam government to engage MS Dhoni as the Brand Ambassador of Assam Tea, hoping that this ambitious move will reap fruitful rewards.

The NETA, during its 21st biennial general meeting conducted in Guwahati on March 13, also proposed the generic promotion of Assam Tea in the domestic market with Dhoni being the ambassador.

It is to be noted that the NETA is a body comprising of 172 member tea companies spread over Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Assam's tea growers are celebrating the incredible milestone of 200 years of the existence of the tea industry in the state.

Tea estates around plantations, hitherto unexplored and unpicked, in the state’s upper reaches first came to be established way back in 1823, during the colonial era.

Assam is renowned globally for its richly coloured and aromatic tea with the region earning a reputation for producing tea of the highest quality.

The state produces around half of the overall tea production in India, thereby making the tea industry in Assam the country's largest, providing livelihoods to millions with many others directly or indirectly dependent on the plantations.

Assam is famous for both Orthodox as well as the CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) varieties of tea.

Unfortunately, the tea industry in India has been grappling with some serious issues for several years now.

Relatively stagnant consumption clubbed with rising production costs, subdued prices and crop losses owing to climate change have made it increasingly difficult for the industry to sustain themselves in the long run.

It also faces a daunting challenge of capturing a size-able chunk and holding onto it in a competitive global market.

It is worth mentioning that the tea business is cost-intensive, with a sizable portion of the total investment being fixed cost.

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