Guwahati to host first "India International Tea Marketing Festival"

Kolkata, Mar 18 (UNI) The much-awaited first "India International Tea Marketing Festival'' will be held in Guwahati from November 16 to 18 to present the diverse quality of Indian tea and its cost competitiveness to tea merchants across the world.

This was informed here today by Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industries Jairam Ramesh after holding an hour-long meeting at the Tea Board to decide the venue of the first of its kind tea festival and marketing effort for the overseas market.

Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of a meeting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in tea gardens, Dr Ramesh said though New Delhi was the first choice for the industry as the venue for the extravaganza, later following assurance from the Assam Chief minister about the security for the guests and also because of the largest presence of tea gardens in the state, Guwahati became the unanimous choice as the venue for the first such important event.

He said apart from Guwahati, simultaneous satellite programmes would be held in Jorhat, also in Assam, to make the event more attractive to foreign buyers.

Elaborating the rationale behind organising such a big and exclusive event for the promotion of tea in global market, Dr Ramesh said because of the lack of proper marketing intiative, sale of Indian tea was fast dwindling in international market for the past few years resulting in to the gradual sickness of several gardens and putting the lives of thousands of workers into jeopardy.

"Just to come out of that situation the Tea Board had decided to organise such an event in every two years in various tea growing states across the country and it had been decided to make the beginning from Guwahati and Jorhat in Assam", the Union Minister pointed out.

About the expected number of participants and buyers to take part in the festival, Dr Ramesh, flanked by Tea Board Chairman Basudeb Banerjee, said it was too early to confirm the figures. "But we hope more than 200 serious buyers would participate in Guwahati".

UNI