Revival path for Kangra tea not an easy going

Shimla: There’s a new freshness in hill slopes running parallel to the Dhauladhas, right from Dharamsala in the west to Bir in the east as tea planters look towards their estates with heightened expectations. Decaying under its own strong and unique aroma for nearly half a century as estate owners found it extremely hard to market their produce due to various reasons, Kangra tea today is again set for revival with fresh stimulus from the Union and state governments. While officials appear upbeat about the whole effort, tea growers have enough reasons not to be carried away, knowing well the burden of an unproductive asset.

Introduced in the first half of the nineteenth century by the Britishers, Kangra tea had already seen many ups and downs before permanent decay set in after independence. So the journey from winning gold medal at a London exhibition in 1886, to the devastation of 1905 earthquake, the First World War, the India-Pakistan wars, Land Sealing Act and finally dug-up tea estates, tea in Kangra has seen it all and is set for yet another bloom.Read Full Story