Indians drink less tea compared to Pakistanis: TBI

Ahmedabad, May 23 (UNI) Indians, by and large, drink less amount of tea as compared to Pakistanis, observed Tea Board of India (TBI) chairman Basudeb Banerjee today.

''Per head Indian drinkers consume less tea compared to Pakistanis. However, Gujaratis and Maharashtrian are consuming tea at par with Pakistanis,'' he said while talking to mediapersons after attending the AGM of Western India Tea Dealers Association (WITDA) here.

''TBI is promoting the per head consumption of tea in India through various ways, mainly through advertising of ice-tea and its health aspects,'' Mr Banerjee said.

He said ''At present, India is producing 945 million kilogram of tea every year, of which 200 mn kg are being exported to foreign countries, mainly to Russia, UK, UAE and Iraq.'' He said ''To check the qualities of Indian tea, the TBI will soon set up some laboratories in Assam and other tea-growing states to establish maximum residual limits (MRL) values for pesticides used by the tea-growers.'' The WITDA submited a memorandum to TBI chief elaborating the problems faced by its members.

UNI MP SSS AG2040