Lodges created to increase tourism

This by a staff reporter from The Telegraph

Tea bungalow-lodges beckon tourists
A STAFF REPORTER

Jorhat, June 22: The Assam government-owned Assam Tea Corporation Limited, in a bid to increase its revenue, will convert at least eight bungalows in four tea estates into tourist lodges.

The ATCL has 15 gardens and most of these are in Upper Assam.

Disclosing this to The Telegraph, industry minister Pradyut Bordoloi said the ATCL has to diversify its business and converting these British-era bungalows into tourists lodges has the scope to earn more revenue for the company.

The eight bungalows have been identified at Cinnamara, Soycotta and Murmuria and Rungamatty tea estates. While the bungalow at Rungamatty is almost ready with renovation completed, work on the other seven bungalows will be carried out soon.

Bordoloi had visited the Rungamatty tea estate yesterday to oversee the ongoing renovation on the bungalow.

Although the ATCL had planned to take into tea tourism venture by converting tea gardens into resorts way back in 2005, things did not work out because of paucity of funds. In fact, a bungalow in Cinnamara tea estate, the first tea estate to have been owned by an Assamese, Maniram Dewan, was prepared for tourists but work stopped midway.

“The ATCL is limping back to its good old days and in another few years we expect the company to make profit again,” Bordoloi said.

He said several initiatives like re-plantation of tea bushes and modernisation of factories have been done in recent times. A senior ATCL official said most of these bungalows were lying unused for several years now and few of them were almost in ruins.

“The maintenance cost of these bungalows is huge and they remained unused after being vacated by the tea executives,” the official said.

He said tour operators would be contacted as soon as these bungalows were ready for tourists.

The official said there were plans to convert all the 15 tea estates of the company into resorts and the colonial-style bungalows into star-category resorts. “Many tourists from the different parts of the country and abroad have a fascination for tea gardens and we want to cash in on this. Spending few nights amid lush green tea estates will no doubt be a great experience for tourists.”

The official said the tourists would also get an opportunity to have a first-hand experience of the tea-making process. He said the bungalows would not only serve as tourist resorts but also to company executives and businessmen on official visits.

“With several big companies setting up branches in small towns like Jorhat, Nagaon and Golaghat, business executives keep travelling to these places. These bungalows will provide them an ideal location to spend a night far away from the hustle and bustle of the urban setting,” the ATCL official said.

Four murdered in Assam

It seems the family were accused of witchcraft so the "witch hunters" could rape the mother and daughter.

See the full story in Hindustan Times, by Rahul Karmaker

A mother and a daughter were conveniently labeled witches in order to be raped and killed on Tuesday. The arrested ‘witch-hunters’ confessed this on Thursday. The police in north-central Assam’s Sonitpur district had on Tuesday found four bodies in a ditch in Monabarie Tea Estate, Asia’s
largest. The bodies – of Binanda Gaur, 46, his wife Karishma Gaur, 36, daughter Naina, 15, and a neighbour Manglu Mour, 14 – bore multiple injury marks and the faces were burnt by acid.

The police suspected it to be a case of witch-hunting, fairly prevalent across tea plantations. But the arrest of six of the seven ‘witch-hunters’ Thursday morning revealed there was a system to the madness.

“We recovered some instruments used in the killing, but it was not a case of witch-hunting,” said Sonitpur district police chief AP Tiwari.

Tiku Orang, one of those arrested, admitted they were instigated by one Surat Modi to accuse Binanda Gaur and his family members of practicing witchcraft that caused sickness among plantation workers. But the real motive was the lust for Binanda’s wife and daughter.

The mother and daughter were dragged out to the ditch at midnight, raped and killed. Gaur and teenager Mour had been killed earlier.

Black magic, witchcraft and superstitious beliefs have been part of tribal customs in Assam and other northeastern states. According to a conservative estimate, some 150 people have been killed in the past five years for allegedly practicing witchcraft in Assam.

In a bid to check this practice, the Assam police had launched Project Prahari entailing community policing and awareness drives. Officials involved with the project said women often fall victims of witch-hunt owing to property disputes. "Sexual assault appears to be a new phenomenon," said a senior police officer.

Sabha sets sights on tea community - Six garden units opened

Great developments in the Assamese tea community reported in The Telegraph, by a staff reporter.

Jorhat, May 30: The Asam Sahitya Sabha has begun an exercise in building a greater Assam by integrating the tea community with the literary scenario of the state.

The assistant general secretary of the Sabha, Debojit Bora, said till today the community had by and large been ignored by the Sabha, but a scheme had been launched this month to create 75 Sabha units in tea gardens across the state by 2013 and set up a research facility at Dibrugarh that would study the community’s culture and language.

“Till today the tea community has been by and large ignored by the Sabha but when we speak about Assam, we cannot do without the assimilation of this community which is said to be the largest, population wise, among all the other communities,” Bora said.

Bora said Sabha president Rong Bong Terang and its secretary Parmananda Rajbongshi had chalked out the proposal for bringing in the tea community within the greater Assam fold.

In Dibrugarh, construction of a research centre named Rameswar Lal Saharia Sangath Bhawan is under way on the premises of Dibrugarh branch of the Sabha to study all aspects of the community’s culture, food habits, language and festivals.

The Sabha has already made a beginning by setting up six tea garden units in Jorhat district, the first on May 12 at Hoolongoorie tea estate. The other tea garden units are at Teok tea estate, Kakojan, Meleng, Selenghat and Cinnamara.

The one at Cinnamara was opened on May 28.

Convener of the Asam Sahitya Sabha Tea Garden sub-committee, Ashwini Tasa, said other districts would soon be taken up during his two-year tenure and one Sabha unit would be set up to cater to five to 10 gardens covering a population of 5,000.

“Although we came from different parts of India more than 150 years ago, we identify ourselves today as Assamese despite speaking a different language which is a mixture of many languages,” Tasa said.

Tasa pointed out that as people had migrated from Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, it would be next to impossible to evolve a common grammar and language. Tasa said the community comprising many indigenous people and sub-tribes, also lacked an individual with grasp of all these languages put together.

“We have managed to evolve a common language known as Sadri or Sadhani but still there are too many differences which have cropped up while trying to codify this,” he said.

Tasa said he had appealed to the tea community at large to assimilate with the greater Assamese society and the best way to do so was by accepting and learning the Assamese language.

Assam to adopt Kenyan model of regulating tea processing units to ensure quality

The Economic Times of India, 02 June, Bikash, Singh, ET Bureau

GUWAHATI: India's largest tea producer, Assam, will adopt Kenyan model of regulating tea processing units to ensure quality. The state government will regulate the opening of bought leaf factories (BLF) in the state.

The government has put on hold issue of fresh registration of BLFs for the last three years in view of the mushrooming of BLFs. The state government in consultation with Tea Board and tea planters' bodies has come up with a new set of guidelines for opening BLFs and stand alone factories. Hundreds of applications are pending for BLFs.

According to guidelines, the availability of green leaf per BLF should be around 25 lakh kg annually. The government is now armed with production database of green leaf in each tea producing districts.

Tea Board to assist small growers set up tea processing unit

From Economic Times of India, 1 June, ET Bureau

KOLKATA: In a bid to promote small tea-growers of India, the Tea Board has decided to assist a group from West Bengal in setting up the country's first tea processing unit by small tea-growers.

The Panbari Small Tea-Growers Society of Assam, a self-help group, which was formed a few years ago, in Panbari village, has decided to go ahead with setting up of a tea processing factory in the village for which it acquired two hectares of land and pooled an amount of Rs 65 lakh. The board is assisting these growers and one of the nationalised banks has decided to provide loans.

A senior official in the Tea Board confirmed that the proposal has been pending for a long time and it is only now being implemented because of the initiative by Panbari tea-growers. "The small tea growers in the tea growing regions of north India have become a force to reckon with," the official added.

Assam Tea used in winning Scottish chocolate

Wonder what Grandad Blake would make of this use of Assam tea.

From Scotland of Food and Drink Friday 27 May, from Visit Scotland.

The Highland Chocolatier was announced as the recipient of VisitScotland’s Food Tourism Award at last night's Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards in Dunblane.

Based in Grandtully in Perthshire, The Highland Chocolatier is a chocolate maker with a dedicated chocolate exhibition.

The business was praised for its continuous growth over the past five years and its innovative expansion to provide a well rounded and year round visitor experience. Above all, the judges were impressed by the obvious passion and quality of the chocolate produced.

Owner Iain Burnett said: "It is extremely rewarding, not just for me but for our entire team in Grandtully, to be recognised by such a prestigious and respected organisation as Scotland Food & Drink.

"Our concept is unique, not only in Scotland but in the UK and although it is tough in such an unsteady financial climate, we are very pleased to be able to fulfil our dreams and win awards whilst we are at it too!"

Representing the diversity of applications for the award, the two other finalists were Waterfront Bar and Seafood Restaurant from Argyll, and Craigie’s (farm delicatessen and cafe) from West Lothian.

The awards were announced at a ceremony for the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards at the Doubletree by Hilton Dunblane Hydro Hotel, where guests enjoyed a special menu designed by renowned Scottish chef, Nick Nairn.

Presenting the award, Riddell Graham, director of Partnerships at VisitScotland, said: "Food and drink is integral to the experience of visitors to Scotland and these awards have been a wonderful opportunity to build on Scotland’s Year of Food & Drink and our EatScotland quality assurance scheme by highlighting some of Scotland’s food heroes.

"It’s been great to see so many quality food and drink producers welcoming visitors in such enthusiastic and imaginative ways."

Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink runs up to the end of May 2011 and VisitScotland sponsors the Food Tourism award in recognition of the importance that food and drink plays in supporting tourism.

Figures show that £1 in every £5 spent by a visitor in Scotland is on food and drink-related activity, equating to more than £500 million for UK visitors alone. In March a survey (HPI Brand Tracker survey) showed that, between October and December 2010, there was a 6.5 per cent surge in the number of people who agreed that "Scotland is a country of great food and drink experiences".

To enter the award, businesses needed to be a quality Scottish food or drink business with authenticity, quality and passion at the centre of their product, as well as emphasising their visitor’s experience.

In selecting the three short-listed finalists, the judges were delighted to see the range of food and drink visitor experiences across the length and breadth of Scotland and were impressed with the level of sophistication and excellence in food and drink provision and visitor experience, particularly across rural Scotland.

Earlier this month, The Highland Chocolatier swept the board at the Academy of Chocolate Awards in London with its Velvet Truffles awarded an exceptional two Gold, two Silver and one Bronze for Best Truffle and Best Filled Chocolate categories.

The winning recipes included the pure Mild and Dark varieties of the Velvet Truffle, and infusions with Assam Tea & Green Cardamom, Crushed Raspberries & Black Pepper, and White Lime & Chilli.

Tea now grown in England

I could not believe it when I read this article, but suppose I should not be surprised after all we now grow vines.

From The Independent, Thursday 26 May, Anthea Gerrie

For all the tea in China, it seems we could have been growing our own for the past 200 years. Deep in Cornwall, a descendant of Earl Grey is proving you don't need Himalayan slopes or a sub-tropical climate to grow tea bushes producing leaves good enough for Britain's top tea tables, and in plentiful enough quantities to export.

That's export as in to China, Japan and other tea-growing countries. The Tregothnan estate, once mocked for its quirky little experiments with camellia sinensis – the tea bush – is now producing and harvesting more than 10 tons a year of tea that the experts consider fine, fragrant and worth a pretty penny.

"We consider it a miracle tea," says Nobu Kitayama, who distributes Tregothnan to high-class department stores and five-star hotels throughout Japan. Expat Joyce Cardew of Tokyo explains why she's happy to pay way over the odds for a tea that comes all the way from Britain.

"They are nurturing and preserving wonderful old plants originally raised in Japan, and I love that feeling of bringing the tea back to its original home," she explains. Sentimentality also plays a big part in boosting sales. "We've had Tregothnan on the menu for five years because we were really keen to showcase it as a British product," says Glenn Piper, the manager of Claridge's tea room. "Visitors love the idea that the afternoon tea they associate with England can include a homegrown brew."

As well as the commercial crop grown in Cornwall, there are a handful of tea bushes thriving in Aberdeenshire, and reported pockets in Dorset and Wales. So why have we spent centuries propping up the economies of China, India and Kenya rather than trying to cultivate our favourite drink?

"It was always considered it couldn't be done here – that's why the East India Company first got involved with smuggling tea from China to Darjeeling and Assam," explains horticulturist Philip McMillan Browse, who helped to create The Eden Project.

But this pessimism was misplaced. "The British also thought they couldn't grow any kind of camellias outdoors after they first brought them back from the East," he adds. "It took them 50 years to realise they could, after raising them for 50 years in glasshouses." It was the hundreds of camellias and magnolias growing happily in the wild at Tregothnan, whose owners are descended from Britain's most passionate collectors of exotic plants, which sparked their audacious investment in tea less than a decade ago.

"When I came here as head gardener in 1996, Lord and Lady Falmouth were wondering what they could do here which would tie in with the history, pay for the six full-time gardeners and last for at least 500 years," says Jonathon Jones, who is Tregothnan Tea in every aspect now, from the growing to the marketing of the lucrative crop.

"Although tea seemed unlikely because no one had done it in England before – and you'd think surely if they could, they would – it came to mind when I saw how many plants we had here like magnolia campbellii from Darjeeling, where the champagne of teas is grown," he adds. "The fact those plants were doing better here than in their native habitat was one of the deciding factors."

He confesses that an initial test planting was a disaster – "a gale of wind blew it all into the deer park" – but in 2001, he produced a tiny batch. "Only about 50 grams, but it proved the point," he says. "If there was any tea at all, we could scale it up."

The gardener became an international marketeer after unveiling his first large-scale crop at the International Tea Expo in Kenya in 2004. "Twinings offered to buy our entire production, but we realised there was more value in marketing it ourselves under the Tregothnan brand," he explains. "It's the world's only English tea, produced in the country that made afternoon tea famous."

However, without deep pockets, the Cornish tea crop might never have acquired more than curiosity value. Tregothnan is now turning over £1.1m worth of tea per year, but it has taken a £2.6m investment and a patient wait of five years from planting to harvesting the first crop.

Purchasers with deep pockets were also needed to help to build the brand, and even in a recession, they have fallen over themselves to become purveyors of true English tea. Fortnum & Mason, which has exclusive rights to Tregothnan's single-estate tea, sells it for a staggering £1,500 per kilogram.

"If you want to drink it as part of your afternoon tea in our tea room, it will cost you an extra £20 per person," says the store's tea buyer, Darren Williams. But he says there is no shortage of takers, especially from abroad. "The Japanese absolutely love it, both to drink in and take away, and we had a Russian customer who bought seven kilos and asked us to repack it into dozens of 100-gram gift packs," he says. "There are plenty of British tea connoisseurs too who just want to taste something different. It may be pricey, but it totally ties in with our ethos of sourcing the best British products."

But Tregothnan is not just for connoisseurs. Plain old garden centres sell its tea blends too, such as Afternoon blend, which is mixed with about 12 per cent of the imported Darjeeling these native leaves resemble, to guarantee consistency of taste. Also available are Earl Grey, flavoured with bergamot, and the Classic, mixed with Assam to make a more tannic breakfast blend.

It will cost you 18p a cup to drink homegrown – about 10 times the cost of a bog-standard tea bag – but Jones asks: "Why should we be expecting to pay less than 2p a cup for our national beverage?"

More and more tea lovers are agreeing with that sentiment as the cuppa drifts slowly upmarket. New research from Mintel shows the size of the premium sector is growing, even though builder's tea is on the decline, and specialist importers are enjoying dizzying business. "We expect to turn over £5m this year," says David Hepburn of Jing, which sells through mail order and to Britain's top hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants, and which has enjoyed a quantum leap in sales in the past five years. "We drink 165 million cups of tea a day in the UK, and huge numbers of people are experimenting with new teas – pu-erh, or flowering varieties, for example," he says. "It's like the coffee revolution, with people going to suppliers who roast and grind their own rare beans. The same thing is happening in tea, with a growing interest in provenance."

If the chic members' club Morton's is to be believed, tea is actually starting to replace coffee. "A few years ago, we would mostly serve coffee at breakfast, but now people realise they need more than just a quick fix of caffeine," says its restaurant manager, Nicolas Vallon. "People are becoming conscious of the fact that leading busy lifestyles can take its toll on your body so try and take small measures to protect their immune systems – like drinking good tea, which is known for its health properties."

The effect is filtering down to the supermarkets. Polly Astbury, tea buyer for Waitrose, reports: "Premium tea is showing growth, with traditional afternoon teas such as Darjeeling and Earl Grey up 12 per cent year on year." But Tregothnan will never be a supermarket brand, says Jones. He encourages visitors to come to the estate for a "bush to cup" experience at its tea room on the Fal. If Earl Grey could be there himself, looking up at the 20 acres of tea bushes stretching into the distance, he would surely be bursting with pride that his descendants had brought his favourite brew home to Britain.

The newest brews

Pu-erh, which Alice Waters, America's queen of foodies, says she's never without in her home, is the "coffee" of teas: strong, macho and addictive, with a high caffeine content. The smoky taste comes from fermentation. Buy Numi's in a chocolate-bar-style brick from which you break off one cube at a time.

Flowering teas were created to infuse the cuppa with some theatre. Flowers that grow beside the leaves in the wild are wrapped into the tea, opening up gorgeously in the pot to reveal a bloom. Get these from Jing (www.jingtea.com) with a glass teapot, which helps you to enjoy the show.

Matcha looks like an unlikely gourmet item: bright-green powder you whisk into hot water to make a brew as fast as a cup of instant coffee. Nevertheless, the Japanese consider it the queen of teas, and it has great health-giving properties. Loose from Teapigs (www.teapigs.co.uk).

Chocolate tea is just that: an amalgam of a strong, black tea with cocoa beans. Numi makes a chocolate pu-erh, while Teapigs' chocolate-flake tea is based on Assam.

What's in your teapot?

All tea is defined as an infusion of the dried leaves of the camellia sinensis plant in water, but how it is processed after picking dictates whether it is categorised as black, green or white.

White tea – considered by connoisseurs to be the most delicate – is merely steamed and dried.

Green tea is withered before it is steamed, fired or pan-fried. It is then rolled and dried.

Black tea is subjected to the final step of oxidising or fermenting before firing. This is the classic British brew and most likely to originate in India or Africa.

Oolong tea, popular in China and with tea connoisseurs, has a delicate taste that comes from a short fermentation following a shake or roll to bruise the edges of the tea leaves.

Many mass-market tea bags are filled with the tea dust and "fannings" left over after whole leaves have been removed to pack as loose leaf tea.

Kitchen gardens on tea gardens - grow your own

this from The Telegraph (Calcutta), by Barnali Handique

Guwahati, May 22: Women in 18 tea gardens in Golaghat district have found a way to fight anaemia by raising kitchen gardens in their homes.

“The basic idea behind starting the ‘kitchen garden’ project is to increase the intake of vegetables among tea garden workers. Prevalence of anaemia among the women is especially high, which can lead to complications in pregnant women during childbirth. Vegetables in all forms are rich in vital nutrients that help in regeneration of blood cells in the body. Therefore, we are trying to promote intake of vegetables in their regular diet,” said Swakhyar Deka, media expert of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Golaghat.

This project was devised by the health mission, Golaghat, under its kitchen garden project.

Though the project was initially launched in Doria tea estate on an experimental basis in 2009, its effectiveness made the mission extend it to 17 more tea gardens this year. The project targets at least 150 households in each tea garden.

The NRHM, Golaghat, is currently implementing this project under a public-private partnership (PPP) mode with the respective management of these 18 tea gardens. Besides, Golaghat is the only district where this project has been launched.

According to an estimate by the Indian Council of Medical Research, about 90 per cent of women in tea gardens of the state are anaemic. Anaemia is also a major cause of concern among pregnant women belonging to the tea workers community.

“In the initial stage, we arrange for seeds and saplings of vegetables like papaya, beans, green chillies, brinjal and water gourd to be planted in a seedbed on the campus of a tea garden hospital. Once these seeds germinate, the young plants are then distributed among the beneficiaries residing in the particular tea garden so that they can raise a small kitchen garden in their own backyard. Bamboo is also provided to every household for fencing their gardens,” Deka said.

Before implementing the project in a specific tea estate, the NRHM officials also conducted sensitisation workshops to educate the workers of the tea garden on the necessity of consuming a nutritional diet to boost their immunity. They also collected blood samples of women aged between 15 years and 45 years for a haemoglobin test to monitor the rate of anaemia after the actual implementation of the project.

The NRHM officials claimed that the particular project had yielded the desired results by boosting the level of awareness among the target population.

“The feedback has shown that people in tea estates have accepted the concept of kitchen garden and more individuals have approached us asking for seeds and saplings to raise a similar garden. This is what has made us expand the project from Doria tea estate to 17 other tea gardens. We have also managed to reach our target population of 150 households in tea estates,” said Deka.

Moves to increase tourism in Assam - and I can't wait to go!

this from the Times of India

GUWAHATI: With tourism one of the top priorities of the new government in the state, Dispur has approached the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for financial assistance to build infrastructure on a par with international standards.

State tourism department principal secretary Himangshu Sekhar Das said a proposal for getting financial aid has been submitted to the ADB recently. He added that chief minister Tarun Gogoi, during a meeting with bureaucrats, has made tourism development one of the top four priorities of his new government. Gogoi has planned to go in a big way to promote tourism for generating employment. ADB has been financing infrastructure development in the state.

On Thursday, Parliament`s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the project proposal of ADB-assisted road project for six northeastern states, including Assam. Under the project, a 433-km long road will be constructed and renovated at an estimated cost of Rs 1353.83 crore. The implementation period is from 2011 to 2016.

At present, Sikkim is the only state in the northeast which is getting financial assistance in the tourism sector from the ADB. Das said Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are the other states enjoying the benefit.

"Last week, we sent a preliminary proposal to ADB country mission director, seeking inclusion of the tourism sector in the state for financial assistance. The proposal seeks infrastructure development in the tourism sector," he added. He said once this is done, it would help in developing international standard tourism infrastructure in the state.

"Once we start getting financial assistance from ADB, the infrastructure will be developed on a par with international standards," explained Das. The tourism department has recently formed Assam Tourism Council to implement state`s policy.

Das said 50 per cent of the members in the council are from government departments. The rest are tour operators and hoteliers. The council will pave the way for tourism development through consultation and active participation from different stakeholders and departments.

Former executive director of Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation, P K Dong, who was instrumental in tourism development in his state, said Assam is fast emerging as a tourism destination.

Tea output rises in March

This from the Telegraph of Calcutta (Kolkata), by a staff reporter

Calcutta, May 8: Tea production in March saw an upswing of around 16 per cent to 56.73 million kg compared with 49 million kg produced during the same period last year.

Exports, however, fell to 11.9 million kg from 23.49 million kg last year.

According to latest data published by the Tea Board, higher production was largely on the back of higher output in Assam.

Production in the Assam valley was 21.37 million kg against 12.67 million kg produced in March 2010. Cachar production was 2.2 million kg compared with 2.1 million kg last year. Total Assam tea production stood at 23.66 million kg in March against 14.8 million kg during the same period last year.

During March, Darjeeling produced 0.5 million kg, while the output in the Dooars and Terai stood at 7.6 million kg and 6.1 million kg, respectively. Total production in Bengal registered a minor dip at 14.36 million kg against 15 million kg during March 2010.

Exports showed a negative trend and almost halved in March. In the first quarter of this year, estimated exports tea are said to be 39.62 million kg. — 22.70 million kg from North India and 16.92 million kg from the southern part of the country. In the January-March quarter last year, exports had touched 53.99 million kg.
Top

Assam Chai Bar to open in Guwahati

This from the Times of India, by Naresh Mitra

Incidentally one of my favourite teas, although in bags, is Twinings Chai

GUWAHATI: Sipping the favourite cuppa will soon be a different experience here as the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) is all set to open an exclusive lounge bar for tea, where brew lovers can taste, enjoy and explore the state's diverse variety.

The lounge, named Assam Chai Bar, is expected to start from August this year. "Assam tea itself is a brand. The tea lounge bar is going to add a different taste. People can sit, sip and try out different flavours," said GTAC chairperson Ravi Capoor.

Capoor, who is also principal secretary of the industries and commerce department, said the tourism department would help in marketing the lounge bar. "The tourism department will help us by mentioning the lounge bar in its literature and publicity materials. Besides, there will be promotional campaigns. The basic objective is to promote our tea along with tourism in the state," added Capoor.

As Guwahati is the gateway and the economic hub of the Northeast, a number of people come here on business. The tea can be popularized among them as also foreign tourists. "Whenever people come to Guwahati, they look for the best of Assam teas. Many a time they do not find them in the market because they do not know the variety. The lounge bar will be a one-stop destination where different varieties of tea will be available," said Capoor.

From Assam orthodox and green teas to Crush Tear Curl (CTC) like second flush tea, autumnal tea and rainy season, the lounge bar will have it all. People will also get the opportunity to explore the differences in the flavours of Brahmaputra Valley, Barak Valley and Darjeeling tea. There will also facilities for Singpho tea at the bar.

With Assam tea getting a beating from Kenyan and Sri Lankan teas in the international market, Capoor felt the lounge bar would be a small step in promoting the state's beverage. Assam produces about 13 per cent of world tea and 52 per cent of Indian tea.

"Coffee bars are coming up everywhere. We need also to do something to promote Assam tea. Although tea lounge bars have come up in other cities, the one in Guwahati will be an exceptional one in terms of variety. The lounge bar will attract the young generation too," said chairperson of North Eastern Tea Association (NETA), Bidyananda Barkakoty, adding that the lounge bar will be managed by tea producers, buyers, brokers and warehouse associations.

"GTAC has been selected for the lounge bar because it is one of the oldest tea auction centres in the world. GTAC being the stakeholders of tea producers, buyers, brokers and warehouse keepers, it is the appropriate place for the lounge bar," he explained.

Capoor also informed that IIM, Shillong has been engaged to prepare a report on why GTAC is losing in the auction to Kolkata. Many tea producers in the state opt for selling directly in Kolkata instead of auctioneering at GTAC. "We have been persistently telling tea companies to sell tea through GTAC. The report will find out why tea is being diverted from GTAC and suggest remedial measures," Capoor said.

In 2009, 138.5 million kg tea was sold through GTAC. It came down to 130.36 million kg in 2010.

Gujaratis to sip 20% more Assam Tea

This reported in Daily News & Analysis, by Antika Pathak

Gujaratis are fond of tea. The bonding between the beverage and the people of the state is so strong that tea comes first to a person’s mind whatever the occasion may be.

That is perhaps why Gujarat accounts for the highest consumption of tea in India.

And looking at the current market, the consumption of tea, particularly Assam tea, in Gujarat is expected to rise. So Gujarat is going to order 20% more Assam tea by the year-end.

According to Ahmedabad Tea Merchant Association president HT Agrawal, 75% of tea consumed in Gujarat is being brought from Assam but since the demand for this particular tea is rising, the procurement amount will go up by 20%.

“We currently procure around 45 million kg tea from Assam, which is expected to increase to around 55 million kg,’’ he said.

He said almost 12% of Assam produce is procured by Gujarat. And from the auction centre at Guwahati, Gujarat procures around 60% of tea, said
Ashok Relia, adviser and senior committee member of the association.

While Gujarat gets 75% of its tea requirement from Assam, it gets the remaining quantity from the South and West Bengal. But since the demand for tea, particularly Assam tea, is rising, the price is also likely to go up.

“A rise of around Rs15 per kg is expected in Assam tea. Also, the production of good quality tea seems to have gone down and this is to push up the tea prices,” said Agrawal.

Assam produces best quality tea. That is why people of the state love it.

Association officials say while the demand is growing, the procurement is not keeping pace so the demand-supply mismatch will increase the prices by 5-10% in case of Assam tea by the year-end.

“The demand-supply mismatch would increase the price by 5-10%,” said Relia.

Currently, the prices of Assam tea are in the range of Rs185 per kg to Rs250 per kg.

With 65 million kg of tea, Gujarat accounts for 8% of tea consumed in India in a year. India consumes around 800 million kg in year.

“The per capita monthly consumption of tea in Gujarat has already increased from 1.2 kg to 1.4kg, and by the end of the year Gujarat’s tea consumption is likely to cross 70 million kg,’’ said Relia.

He said that Punjab, Chandigarh and J&K come next in tea consumption.

A delegation of 33 members of Ahmedabad Tea Merchant Association recently visited Assam to get first-hand knowledge about the production of various types of tea in the north-eastern state.

Fewer factories to be set up to improve quality of tea

This from the Calcutta Telegraph, by a staff reporter

Too many factories spoil brew
- Association plea for steps
A STAFF REPORTER

Jorhat, April 25: Cut-throat competition among factories in an attempt to produce more tea and coming up of at least 10 new bought leaf factories in the last few months have hit production of quality tea in Assam in recent times.

The Assam Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers’ Association while apprising the state government of this has appealed to take necessary steps to check setting up of new factories so that quality tea could be produced.

“Setting up of these factories has resulted in demand for more green leaf and the increasing demand has forced small tea growers to pluck coarse leaves to make more money resulting in production of poor quality tea,” the chairman of the association, K. Sensowa, said in a letter to industries minister Pradyut Bordoloi a couple of days back.

Sensowa said despite the state industry department’s decision not to issue licences for setting of any bought leaf factory a few months back, at least 10 such factories had come up in Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Golaghat districts in the last few months.

“It is surprising as to how these new factories have got their licences,” Sensowa said while talking to this correspondent.

There are 186 registered bought leaf factories in the state producing about 140 million kg of made tea per year which is about 30 per cent of total production of the state.

Blaming the bought leaf tea manufacturing factories for producing poor quality tea which has earned a bad name for Assam tea in recent years, the state industries department had decided to stop issuing licences for setting up of more such factories.

However, at least 10 new factories have come up in the last few months, which the industries department claims, have been set up on a temporary basis.

“These licences have been issued on a provisional manner,” a senior official of the industries department said.

Sensowa said there had been a shortage of green leaves and with the new factories coming up, the demand for green leaves had increased manifold.

“The result is that the small tea growers are providing coarse leaves to meet the growing demand and the quality of tea has deteriorated,” he said.

He said the restriction of issuing licences to bought leaf factories would stabilise the demand and supply of green leaf and would also help in producing good quality tea.

Sensowa also said there had been many instances when green leaves were transported for over 100km from the garden to the factory and this has resulted in production of poor quality tea.

“Only bought leaf factories are not responsible for such acts, several big companies are buying green leaves from small tea growers in a bid to produce more tea. These leaves are transported to a long distance. By the time the green leaves reach the factories, the leaves dry up thus hampering quality production,” Sensowa said.

The association has appealed to the government to take necessary steps to discourage such disturbing practices, especially by the organised sector which is spoiling the quality of tea and creating a bad name in the international market.

English tea drunk in New York for Royal Wedding

This from the New York Times 28 April 2011, by Jeremy Olshan


The whole world is going to teapot.

There's only one proper way to toast to the pomp and frenzy surrounding the royal couple as they tie the knot tomorrow: with a cup of English Breakfast tea.

The famed blend of Ceylon and Assam tea leaves is ideal for the 5 a.m. event, said Nicky Perry, owner of Tea & Sympathy in the West Village.

"It's what the queen herself drinks," she said. "She makes her own teas and travels with her own kettle, using nothing but Malvern [spring] water."

Unfortunately, many Americans are ill-informed about the details of tea, Perry lamented.

"American tea tastes as though it were pulled straight from Boston harbor," Perry said.

As for brands, Perry recommends, PG Tips or Yorkshire Gold.

"For God's sake, forget the Lipton," she said.

Article relating to Gillanders - should business houses be allowed to open banks

This in the Economic Times . It gives some history of the tea companies

The answer is "No". A business house " is a uniquely Indian expression. It is not common in other countries. By "business house" we refer to a loose conglomerate with ownership and control usually vesting with a family. The conglomerate almost always consists of multiple private and public companies, where the shareholdings of the controlling group/family can be very low or very high. "Business houses" are lineal descendants of "managing agencies" which dominated the business scene in British India. Andrew Yule, Gillanders Arbuthnot and so on were the fabled names. When Indians emerged as entrepreneurs, they imitated managing agencies and we had the emergence of Tata Sons , Birla Brothers and so on.

The managing agency system did at first serve a positive purpose as investors were reluctant to put their capital directly into companies not "backed" by well-known names. But over time, the maze of related party transactions among the different companies managed by a single "House" was rightly seen as inimical to good corporate governance and minority shareholders. Hence the Managing Agency system was abolished. But by this time, large interlocked conglomerates had become well-established.

In the sixties, the Hazari Commission and the Dutt Committee established the fact that the principal beneficiaries of the infamous permit-licence raj were these business houses who systematically pre-empted valuable licences that were sparingly doled out by our socialistic sarkar; they effectively sabotaged the entry of competitors. In the absence of free and easy entry for new entrepreneurs our economy became sclerotic; Indian consumers were forced to buy shoddy and expensive goods all coming from the same handful of powerful and influential business houses.

The control that business houses exercised over commercial banks (through pretty low shareholdings) resulted in even more insidious outcomes. A new entrepreneur who did not have connections to these families found himself or herself pretty much excluded from bank finance. Easy bank finance (without too many uncomfortable questions being asked) was also made available to the business houses to acquire controlling interest in several companies especially the ones that British capital was pulling out of.

That is why many economists opposed to "social control" and later bank nationalisation went along with these decisions as serving a second order optimisation purpose-by eliminating the vice that resulted from the interlocking of banking with commerce. This, incidentally has been the governing principle for banking permissions in the US where there has been an abiding fear that banks are already very powerful and letting them into the world of commerce would lead to unacceptable levels of concentration of power that would be inimical to the political economy of a democratic republic. To this day, General Electric has not been granted a banking licence precisely for this reason.

The proposal to grant banking licences to Indian business houses is bad policy given the history of our country as any cursory reading of the Hazari and Dutt reports will show. It will reinforce the unhealthy trends of crony capitalism that we see so much of. It will result in the creation of gigantic Zaibatsu houses a la Japan. It will definitely dampen new entrepreneurship as cozy inter-connected clubs like to keep out upstarts. The argument that only large business houses have capital is a weak one. World-class banks like HDFC Bank , Axis Bank and ICICI Bank have emerged without such backing. At this point in time in our history, let us not give in to the phony arguments of crony capitalist ideologues.

(Jaithirth Rao has been a banker, an IT entrepreneur and now runs a company that provides low- cost housing.
A regular in the newspaper commentary space, his calling card is iconoclasm)

Web site for the annual Assam Tea Tourism Festival

I would love to go to this.

Assam Tea Tourism Festival

I know it is also possible to do tours of tea gardens and even stay at some while visiting the region.

Another web site with information on Gillanders and a photo showing Jutlibari TE with ISO 9001

Follow the link as the image is copyrighted

Deccan Herald reporter visits Shillong

I came across this story of the Deccan Herald reporter, Bharati Motwani's visit to Shillong, the birthplace of my father.

It is a very informative article which makes Shillong sound beautiful and somewhere I am determined to visit, if the family can ever get itself organised and presuming I will be able to find the money from somewhere in the light of recent events i.e. my losing my job.

A distant dream
Bharati Motwani

Bharati Motwani visits Shillong where music is food for life, buildings reflect the city’s colonial past and warrior tribes still believe in animistic tradition.

Even if he didn’t know it, Bob Dylan had his 69th birthday party in Shillong this year. Long-haired, tattooed musicians played Dylan’s timeless anti-war anthem Blowing in the wind. Standing on a makeshift-stage, 60 year-old Lou Majaw, Shillong’s best loved-musician and Dylan addict said, “To Bob, wherever you are …”, before launching into Everybody must get stoned. Hundreds clapped, cheered and sang along, blocking traffic at a busy roundabout. And that is the spirit of Shillong. A town of pretty, sloe-eyed Khasi girls, pink-cheeked Anglo-Indians, and boys lounging rakishly at street corners, hair gelled, earlobes pierced — dressed to celebrate the evening, the weather, youth and life.

Local wares

Everywhere there is music — thumping out of restaurants and small jadoh stalls, wafting out of churches, reflected through posters for rock-concerts, musical talent hunts, through a retired tea-planter thrumming his old guitar in the backyard and a silver-haired old lady dreaming over the keys of a burnished Steinway. To slip under the skin of this entrancing town, take a ride to Burra Bazar on a local bus.

Squeeze yourself between many betel-stained, rotten-toothed grins; mind you don’t get your bottom pecked by angry, but still lecherous roosters trussed up in a basket; avoid making eye-contact with the severed head of a pig riding in the lap of a little boy. Though it’s only 9 am and a little early to start drinking, it’s okay to accept a swig of gin from the hip-flask so generously proffered by a smiling school teacher. She’s late for class and possibly tipsy, but hey, welcome to Shillong!

The travel brochure says Burra Bazar is a good place for tourists in search of local colour. Here, at a butcher’s section, huge beef carcasses hang from big meat-hooks, mounds of intestines, gizzards and entrails sit around slimily. And in the middle of each stall, framed by all the gore, there sits a pretty local lass, dressed to kill — high heels, bright lipstick, and scarlet nails. Indeed, the Khasis eat pretty much everything that moves, wriggles and slithers.

Another section of the market has tubs full of water-snakes, hornet larvae, maggots and beetles, all alive. A sweet, old lady gave me a recipe for oak-tree maggots sold at Rs 800 per kg, fresh and crawling. Just boil the critters for three minutes, sauté them lightly in butter, add a dash of salt and chilli and serve hot.

There are mounds of fresh kwai or betel nut that locals chew all the time. It warms you up in winter but will leave your ears burning and head spinning. There are baskets of reed, grass and beautifully crafted bows and arrows used by the locals at the Archery Stakes. The old tribal sport of archery has metamorphosed into a major gambling event, with daily stakes at Saw–Furlong and Polo Grounds. Archers from local clubs participate, while bookies scurry about placing bets that run into crores.

The British in India were always homesick for the rolling greens and shifting mists of Devon and the Cotswolds. Here, in Shillong, they rediscovered Scotland and promptly set up shop, making it the administrative headquarters of Assam in 1874. They built cathedrals, laid parks and created a township of winding lanes and mock-Tudor houses with gardens adrift in phlox, pansies and briar rose. Having done that, they laid themselves to eternal rest in shady graveyards.

For memories of the Raj, visit Ward Lake with its curving promenade and Lady Hydari Park with its pine groves (the native Pinus Khasiana that are the signature of these hills). Shillong’s beautiful 18-hole golf course is often compared to Gleneagle in Scotland, and is one of the oldest and most perfect natural golf courses in the world. A short drive away is Umiam Lake, a favourite haunt for Shillong’s high-spirited youngsters.

The tribes of Meghalaya — the Garos, Khasis and Jaintias — are matrilineal. Women wield considerable authority, but Khasi men are fiercely territorial about their women. All three tribes are essentially animistic despite having adopted Christian and Hindu practices. All over the Khasi hills are Stonehenge-like obelisks called mawbynnas, that mark the burials of ancient warriors. At Smit village, at the edge of town, we visit a liquor till, where we quaff a tumbler or two of the staple Khasi tipple — kakyat, a kind of rice beer.

Driving out of Shillong into the countryside, you begin to really breathe in the essence of Meghalaya — home of the storm clouds. The rolling fog is thick with legend, for the locals believe that all things have an indwelling spirit — every waterfall is a sorrowing maiden, every green hill is a brave warrior, every rock-formation the accoutrements of a giant.

Of waterfalls and caves

Just short of Cherrapunjee is Krem Mawsmai, a cave passage into the maw of the hill. The surreal shapes created by thousands of years of calcite sedimentation are believed to be the “marrowless bones of a giant”. Krem Mawsmai is located in the middle of a silent, sacred grove, so thick that light does not penetrate to the ground. Here, one must tread softly so as not to offend the trees. Not a branch must be broken, not a flower violated. The passage at Mawsmai once led all the way to Bangladesh, but the tunnel collapsed during the earthquake of 1894. It is believed that a local king once hid his entire army inside Krem Mawsmai during a battle with the British.

At Cherrapunjee, now unseated by Mawsynram as the wettest place on earth, are the milky Mawsmai Falls, hurtling down a cliff-face. Laitkynsew in Cherrapunjee is a sight straight out of an Enid Blyton story. It has a bridge made out of the secondary roots of a tree, an absolute marvel of bio-engineering and tribal wisdom.

The roots are stretched and planted on the opposite bank. It takes about 30 years for the bridge to gain the requisite strength, growing and regenerating. There are several such living root bridges in the area and they are unique to Meghalaya. Some are over 200 years old and have outlasted conventional bridges.

All of the area is dotted with caves, waterfalls and strange rock formations. Everything is impossibly green, moist and alive. The spirits of the forests have whispered their enchantments into your ears, and your life in the city feels dreamlike. “Why go back?” they whisper.

Election promises for Assam tea workers

It seems I am very unaware of current affairs in India, which was not the case when I was studying for my MA. I am resolved, now I have more time on my hands to be better informed.

Elections are due later this year, and the BJP have made an election pledge to increase the daily pay of workers in Assam to 100 Rs. Despite the fact that Assam produces the most tea in India, the area remains underdeveloped and more investment is needed. The party is making this pledge because to woo the votes of those living and working on the tea gardens.

Read the full story in The Times of India.

Article about the affect of climate change on Assam tea

A worrying article from the Guardian in 2010, describing the affects of global warming on the taste of Assam tea. To think that the taste of Jutlibari tea could change .......

Climate change leaves Assam tea growers in hot water

Rising temperatures reducing yields and altering distinctive flavour of India's most popular drink

Climate change is affecting the cultivation of Assam tea, with rising temperatures reducing yields and altering the distinctive flavour of India's most popular drink, researchers say.

High hills and abundant rainfall make the north-eastern state of Assam an ideal place to grow tea, with 850 gardens over 320,000 hectares (593,000 acres) producing the majority of the country's harvest. But in the last 60 years, rainfall has fallen by more than a fifth and minimum temperature has risen by a degree to 19.5C.

"This is clearly climate change, and it is bound to have major impact on the tea industry," said Debakanta Handique, a climate scientist in Assam.

The Tea Board of India said it had recorded a steady decline in tea production in recent years. In 2007, Assam produced 512,000 tonnes of tea. By 2008 this had declined to 487,000 tonnes, with estimated production in 2009 down again to 445,000. A further decrease is expected this year.

Mridul Hazarika, director of Tocklai Tea Research, the oldest tea research station in the world, said rainfall and minimum temperature were two of the most important factors affecting both quality and quantity of harvests.

"The decline has been taking place although there has been an increase in the area of tea cultivation as new gardens have come up, and many gardens have added new areas for tea plantation. This is an indication of the seriousness of the threat," said Hazarika. Efficient rainwater harvesting and new breeds of tea plants were needed to reverse the trend.

"Changes have already been observed in the flavour, but it is not possible to blame only climate change for this," he said. "Other factors like the fertilisers used and cultivation methods might also be partly responsible."

The changing taste of Assam tea is a serious concern for growers. Sudipta Nayan Goswami, an Assam-based planter, said subtle changes had already been observed: "The flavour has changed from what it was before. The creamy and strong flavour is no more."

"There is a huge demand for Assam tea abroad, and this is due to its strong, bright flavour. The changes will sharply hamper the demand for this variety of tea abroad."