Tea Board has four logos. One is for Indian tea in general and three for the individual varieties. A woman carrying basket is for Indian teas in general and it is given only for teas packed in India. The others are for Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiri teas which are 100 per cent from the respective regions in origin and character.

The promotion activities of the Tea Board are carried out mainly through its five overseas offices in London, Hamburg, New York, Dubai and Moscow. Recently the government has decided to close down the New York office andopen two new promotional offices in Cairo and Tashkent which are potential markets.

Tea Board aims at promoting tea in value added forms like packet tea, tea bags and instant tea at the trade and consumer level. The medium of publicity includes, besides advertisements, support to exporters and importers for marketing Indian brands. It conducts publicity campaign in identified markets to establish the logos as the guarantee for pure Indian teas.

The board also participates in the generic promotion programmes conducted by Tea Councils in the UK, the US, Germany, and Canada. It is a member of the International Tea Committee.

During 1997-98, India produced 838 million kgs of tea, eight per cent more than the 776.5 million kg in the previous year.

The export during 1997-98 is estimated to be 215 million kg worth Rs 1942 crore against 162.86 million kg for Rs 1224.10 crore in the previous year.However, the scene may change in the current year. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, duringJanuary-April 1998, Kenya produced 113.26 million kg tea against 54.97 million kg in the same period last year. Sri Lank also has reported a healthy crop in 1998.

Meanwhile, tea production in April 1998 was lower at 69.4 million kg. It was 76.9 million kg in April 1997. The cumulative production in the first four months of 1998 was 15 per cent more. However, the world's largest tea producer, India has always produced the world's finest teas, and the largest variety in any form.

Policy initiatives for development of the tea industry are directed towards increasing production of tea with the twin objective of meeting of growing domestic demand and generating adequate surplus for the export market. On the export front, the thrust is on increasing exports in the value-added form so as to maximise the unit value realisation.

For making an objective assessment of the demand for tea to meet the requirements of domestic and export markets, the Tea Board had sponsored a project to the Indian Institute ofManagement, Calcutta to make an analysis of the domestic consumption of tea in the country. A core team of experts was also constituted by the Board for suggesting ways and means for restoring India's dominance in the in the world tea trade. Projections for the 9th plan period up to 2002 have been made on the basis of these assessments.

The major tea-producing regions are Assam, Darjeeling and the Dooars (the northern part of West Bengal) and the Nilgiris (the hilly regions of Tamil Nadu).

Indian tea today accounts for over 30 per cent of global production, 24 per cent of consumption and 18 per cent of exports. It is acknowledged as the finest in the world, unparalled for its flavour and aroma.