Siliguri to host tea conference

TT, Siliguri: More than 300 stakeholders of the Indian tea industry will attend the fifth edition of the India Tea Forum to be organised by the north Bengal zonal council of the Confederation of Indian Industry in association with the Tea Board of India here on September 7 and 8.

"During these two days, they will hold interactions to explore new business opportunities and innovations needed to take the tea industry to the next level," said Kamal Kishore Tiwari, the chairman of CII's NB zonal council, on Friday.

This year, the theme of the event is "The NexGen Tea" which means emphasis on innovation, value addition, marketing and specialty tea tasting.

"The CTC (crush, tear and curl) tea produce in India is around 1,300 million kg out of which 220 million kg is exported. A greater stress on export of CTC will help us add to the country's foreign exchange reserves," he added.

The focus is on tea produced in Darjeeling, Dooars and Terai and there will be delegates from different parts of the Bengal, other states and even the neighbouring countries.