Kangra Tea: Area and Production in India

Kangra Tea Industry had a golden history but today it is struggling to survive. Kangra was one of the sites where British introduced the China tea in the initial days of modern tea plantation in India in mid of 19th century. It was introduced by abiologist and soldier Jameson; who had brought tea bushes from China and planted them on experimental basis in Kullu, Mandi, Chamba, Palampur and Dharamsala areas. The bushes failed to survive in Kullu, Chamba and other areas but took root in Palampur and Dharamsala.

Due to its quality, the tea was readily accepted in Europe and had won gold & silver medals in exhibition of tea in Europe during 1886-95. However, first jolt to the Kangra tea plantations came in 1905, when this area was struck by an Earthquake, which ruined the tea plantations. This caused panic into the British planters and they sold their estates to locals and moved away. The local people could not maintain the plantations because of technical knowhow. Despite that the Industry survived in 20th century and remained as one of the leading suppliers to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

But despite its protection under land tenancy law; the industry has failed mainly due to absence of professional knowhow and faulty government policy.

Current Area and Production

At one time, Kangra tea industry covered more than 5,000 hectares of land and supported more than 1,600 families, but it has now shrunk considerably. It is currently grown in 5,900 tea gardens spread over an area of 2312 hectares between Shahpur-Palampur-Baijnath-Jogindernagar of Himachal Pradesh. Its current production is around 9 Lakh Kg, which used to be in the range of 16-17 Lakh Kg in 1990s.