Liberalisation of India's agricultural trade and its impact on tea exports

Tea has been the traditional agricultural export of India. With the signing of the WTO agreement in 1995, Indian agriculture has entered the phase of global competition. With growing international competition and increased domestic consumption, it is necessary to evolve steps to give exports of tea a further boost. This paper analyses the issue of competitiveness of Indian tea in the light of empirical evidence of domestic and international prices, size of international market for tea, and structure of global market for tea.