ISLAMABAD: Spurred by a 50 per cent jump in tea exports to Pakistan, a delegation of Indian growers, traders and exporters led by the Tea Board is here for the first time since 2004 to explore business opportunities and increase the market share.

Pakistan imported 14.75 million kg of tea from India in 2006 against 10.99 million kg in the previous year.

The 12-member team included the Tea Board Chairman, Basudeb Banerjee, representatives of the India Tea Association, a Tea Board official from Dubai, and industry executives representing plantations, traders and exporters in north and south India.

"This is the start of the tea season in India, and our visit is exploratory in nature. We try to assess the requirements of the market in advance,'' Monojit Dasgupta, Secretary-General of the India Tea Association, said.

Unlike on previous occasions when delegations from India visited only Karachi, the hub of the Pakistan tea trade, this time the team visited the tea markets of Lahore, Peshawar and Rawalpindi as well.

Mr. Dasgupta said the team also held discussions with Pakistani buyers about promotion of Indian tea in the local market, including the possibility of a joint promotion with a packaging house here.

Pakistan Tea Association Secretary Khusro Nizar Ahmed Farooqui said the Indian tea industry "now know how to play it well'' in Pakistan.

"They have progressively increased their exports because of confidence of both buyers and sellers and more contacts between them," Mr Farooqui said.

Pakistan, which has a 170 million kg tea market, imports about 100 millon kg annually. Tea imports from Kenya make up about 85 per cent of the total import, and India is in the second place. Smugglers bring in another 60 to 70 million kg.

The Pakistan tea industry had appealed to the government to lower the 10 per cent duty on tea imports from India and Kenya as it would cut out unofficial trade, and earn it more revenues, Mr. Farooqui said.

No duty is levied on tea imports from Bangladesh and Nepal as they are "least developed countries'' in the region, while tea from Sri Lanka, with which Pakistan has a Free Trade Agreement, is also duty free.

But, according to Mr. Farooqui, there is no market in Pakistan for orthodox teas from Sri Lanka. The preference here is for CTC teas from south India.

During its last visit in 2004, the Indian delegation signed a memorandum of understanding with its Pakistan counterparts projecting a target of 25 million kg export to Pakistan. While this had not been achieved, Mr. Dasgupta said, exports to Pakistan now stood at their `highest' level.

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