India's tea industry will target exports of 210 million kg in 2007, slightly higher than last year's exports with demand emerging from new markets, a top tea board official said on Monday. India is likely to export more tea to countries like Egypt, Pakistan and Iraq this year, said Vasudeb Banerjee, chairman of the state-run Tea Board of India.
"A growing demand from emerging markets will help us achieve our goals. We are targetting exports of at least 210 million kg this year," he said. The bulk of India's 203.8 million kg exports in 2006 went to Iraq, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
"We expect tea exports to Egypt to touch 6 to 10 million kg this year compared to 2.7 million kg last year," Banerjee said at a news conference. A delegation of tea board officials and Indian tea producers visited Egypt and Pakistan in April to promote export of Indian tea, the official said. "Pakistan is emerging as a significant market for Indian tea and we expect to export upto 20 million kg this year," Banerjee said.
Last year India had exported over 15 million kg of tea to Pakistan. Better road transport facilities, lower duties and freight charges were likely to spur the increase in exports, officials said. Tea board officials and Indian tea producers said on Monday that production also was likely to be higher than last year. "We will be ahead this year," Banerjee said. India produced 955 million kg of tea in 2006.
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