The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) continued to be India’s topmost importer of tea in the fiscal 2020-21 although the volume was less compared to the previous fiscal in line with the overall reduced exports from India.

In 2020-21, India exported 49.09 million kg (mkg) to the CIS against 59.52 mkg in the previous fiscal, reveals our analysis of the latest country-wise data available with the Tea Board.

Among the CIS, Russia accounted for 35.61 mkg (2019-20: 44.81 mkg) and topped the list of India’s country-wise tea exports.

Iran continued to be a favourite for many Indian exporters with a shipment of 28.33 mkg (48.46 mkg).

UAE bought 13.46 mkg (12.61 mkg) of tea from India while China 11.88 mkg (12.72 mkg) and the USA 11.57 mkg (12.50 mkg).

According to the Tea Board, there was absolutely no shipment to Pakistan during 2020-21 while in the previous fiscal, 3.29 mkg of tea worth ₹35.02 crore had been shipped to that country.

“Last year, exporters had little choice. Lockdown-induced trade restrictions in many countries, disruption in transportation, payment uncertainties as also the political proclivities decided the destination for our teas,” an exporter told BusinessLine .

Value-wise, the CIS topped India’s export table at ₹935.78 crore (₹967.83 crore); of this, Russia paid ₹645.89 crore (₹712.77 crore).

Iran paid ₹756.21 crore (₹1,293.03 crore), the USA ₹488.95 crore (₹379.02 crore) and the UAE 335.35 crore (₹280 crore).

Price-wise, Ireland paid ₹475.41 a kg (₹589.38), Japan ₹447.64 (369.07) and The Netherlands ₹453.64 (₹379.17). The USA, Canada and Australia also paid more than ₹ 400 a kg to buy Indian teas of their choice.

Overall, India’s exports in 2020-21 dropped to 202 mkg (241.34 mkg) worth ₹5,231.69 crore (₹5,457.10 crore) even as the unit price rose to ₹258.99 a kg (₹226.11).