Darjeeling tea production, one of the world’s most popular tea varietals, fell to 6.5 million kg in 2021, the lowest level on record and less than half of the 13 million kg produced two decades before.
Climate change, garden closures, excessive absenteeism among tea workers, lost export markets in 2017 owing to agitation in the hills, and a lack of effort to promote Darjeeling tea in the home market have all contributed to the decline. Planters believe that unless the government comes up with a recovery package, Darjeeling tea, the Indian tea industry’s flagbearer, may fade away like the teas from Himachal Pradesh’s Palampur.