Tea planters have expressed concern over the drop in the price of the brew manufactured in Terai estates and warned the production would become unsustainable with rise in workers’ wages.

At the 58th annual general meeting of the Terai Branch of the Indian Tea Association (TBITA) held here on Thursday evening, the planters said the price had come down by Rs 6 per kilo in the last season. The reference was to the rate the tea fetches in the gardens located in the rural areas of Siliguri subdivision and the adjoining places in North Dinajpur district.

“In 2019, tea prices witnessed a fall of around Rs 6 per kilo in the Terai. For past five-six years, the prices have been hovering around Rs 120-125. On the other hand, there was a substantial rise in the wages of workers during the period. The wages cover around 60 per cent of the cost. The cost has gone up by Rs 25 to Rs 28 a kg,” said S.K. Gupta, the chairman of the TBITA.

Arijit Raha, the secretary general of the Indian Tea Association, said at the AGM that the prices fetched at the Siliguri tea auction centre had remained stagnant in 2019 compared to 2018. “In fact, the Terai tea prices came down by around Rs 6. In Calcutta, the decrease was around Rs 12. In 2019, 58 per cent of the produce from any part of north Bengal, except the Darjeeling hills, was auctioned off at prices below Rs 150 per kilo. Considering the present cost of production, the need of the hour to ensure that tea price doesn’t fall below the cost,” said Raha.