Representatives of tea trade unions in Darjeeling hills have accused the Narendra Modi government of not addressing a major problem that the century-old Darjeeling tea industry is facing over the past few years because of the unbridled influx of Nepal tea into India.

J.B. Tamang, the president of Hill Terai Dooars Plantation Workers Union (HTDPWU), said here on Saturday that teas imported from Nepal are being sold as Darjeeling tea in the domestic market.

“This indiscriminate import and sale have left the tea industry in hills at a crossroads. We apprehend that if no restriction is put on such imports, the industry here will collapse within the next three years. It is unfortunate that the central government and the tea board are not taking any initiative to save the world-famous Darjeeling tea industry. We want the Centre to immediately impose 100 per cent import duty on Nepal tea,” he said.

The trade union leaders mentioned that the Nepal teas are blended with local tea here and exported to other countries as Darjeeling tea.

“Last year, 6.7 million kilos of tea was produced in Darjeeling while 11.47 million kilos were imported from Nepal and sold in the domestic market as fake Darjeeling tea. Such practices should be stopped. The tea board should make the consumers aware of such teas,” said a senior tea planter who owns tea estates in the hills.

Bharat Thakuri, another senior trade union leader, said the Prime Minister himself should intervene in the issue.

“While speaking at a rally in Siliguri, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that Gorkhas’ dreams are his dreams. We want him to help us to tide over this crisis as this rampant influx of Nepal teas would put thousands of tea workers and their families in crisis across the hills,” said Thakuri.

Altogether, there are 87 tea estates in Darjeeling hills which make the famous organic Darjeeling brew.

In the current week, this is the second time that stakeholders of north Bengal tea industry have expressed disappointment with the Centre.

A few days back, a tea planters’ association had sent a letter to the Union finance minister, saying the Centre and the tea board are not disbursing subsidies to tea estates. No financial aid was extended to the brew belt of this region despite announcements, planters had said.

Along with the tea board, small tea growers, who contribute around 60 per cent of the total tea produced in this region, expressed concern over the import of Nepal tea.

Bijoygopal Chakraborty, president of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Associations, said that import is on the rise.

He pointed out that from January to May this year, 4.59 million kilos of tea were brought in from Nepal. During the corresponding period of last year, the quantity of import was 1.98 million kilos, he said.

“Even Bangladesh charges 85 per cent duty for import of Indian tea to save their industry. Why can’t the Indian government impose duty on Nepal teas then? Even CTC teas are being exported from the neighbouring country to Siliguri and we apprehend that this can affect our sector,” Chakraborty said.