DARJEELING /India/, October 4. /TASS/. The tea industry in India's Darjeeling municipality is recovering from restrictions imposed by the pandemic, and it will take another two years to fully bring the production to the pre-pandemic volumes, Sandeep Mukherjee, Principal Advisor of the Darjeeling Tea Association, said in an interview with TASS.
"We will not be able to return to the previous level of production [right now] because many gardens have shut down," he said adding that it will take "another couple of years" to return to the pre-pandemic level.
"We eagerly look forward to Russian clients [importers of tea]," he noted.
Mukherjee said that the pandemic brought the tea industry in India to a stop for about three weeks. After that the industry resumed functioning, but no more than 50% of workers could work in tea gardens and tea factories. "It was only last month that the work force of 100% was engaged in tea industry," he said.
"Now we produce around 7 mln kg annually," Mukherjee said adding that before the pandemic this figure was 9 mln kg. (Traditionally, tea producers measure production volume in kilograms, not in tonnes - TASS).
Darjeeling is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. The region is one of the most renowned tea producers in India. Thanks to special climatic conditions and long-term traditions, the local tea is considered elite among the country's black teas and is called "tea champagne".