The ongoing crisis in West Asia is having a detrimental effect on Assam's tea sector, particularly disrupting export activities. This turmoil is expected to create a mismatch between supply and demand within the local market. The West Asian region, which includes countries like Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, is responsible for importing around 90 million kg of Indian tea, representing approximately 35% of the nation's total tea exports.

Most of the tea exported is of the orthodox variety, with Iran being a key market. However, the crisis has led to interruptions in trade routes and payment processes, resulting in delayed shipments and uncertainty for exporters. As a consequence, shipments of premium orthodox tea valued at over Rs 150 crore have already been adversely affected.

Notably, around 9% of Assam's total tea production consists of orthodox tea, which is primarily exported to West Asia. These recent developments pose a risk to India's recent achievement of becoming the second-largest tea exporter globally, surpassing Sri Lanka in 2024.

In the previous year, India successfully exported 255 million kg of tea, reflecting a significant 10% increase in export volume.

This situation calls for a reassessment of export strategies. In contrast to Assam, Sri Lanka, another major exporter of orthodox tea to Iran, appears to be managing its market presence more effectively, possibly due to differing export approaches.

The Assam tea sector is expressing concerns over potential further losses and is urging government action to alleviate the adverse effects. This scenario highlights the industry's susceptibility to geopolitical issues and underscores the necessity for diversifying export markets. Additionally, the recent surge of low-quality tea imports into India has compounded the industry's challenges.

To address these issues, the industry advocates for stringent import regulations. A troubling consequence of the current situation is that a significant amount of these low-cost, duty-free imported teas is entering the Indian market, often misrepresented as domestically produced, which undermines the pricing of Indian teas.

The Indian Tea Association's call for establishing a minimum import price for tea is justified to curb the influx of inferior-quality teas, alongside implementing quantitative restrictions and anti-dumping duties on tea imports.