KOLKATA: Union Commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan on Thursday said the tea industry should benchmark itself against best practices so that it can compete in the international market against countries like Sri Lanka.

There are fundamental challenges on the production side as productivity was falling. The gardens are no more viable as they used to be. The industry needs to benchmark itself against the best practices to raise production and compete in the international market against countries like Sri Lanka”, he said.

The initiatives should come from the industry side for branding and marketing of tea and also for value addition. “The government will support the efforts of the industry”, he said at the AGM of Indian Tea Association (ITA).

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