CCPA urges Govt not to reduce import duty on tea
   Date :13-Aug-2020

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Business Bureau :
 
The Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA), the apex body of tea associations in India, has urged Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal not to reduce import duty on tea as any move in that direction will disturb equilibrium of the industry. CCPA Chairman Vivek Goenka in a letter to Goyal said that any such move will lead to erosion of domestic prices and subsequently affect the economic viability of the tea gardens and livelihood of lakhs of people.
 
According to CCPA, reduction in import duty, now 100 per cent, will pave the way for cheap tea to flood the market which will have disastrous effect on prices. It maintained that Indian tea production over the last decade has increased rapidly primarily due to the emergence of small tea growers who contribute nearly 50 per cent of overall production. The letter stated that while annual production of the beverage is around 1400 million kg, 250 million kg are exported and domestic consumption level is nearly 1100 million kg. The comsumption level has not grown as the production.