Kolkata, Jan 1 (IANS) Undeterred by the recent strained relationship with Pakistan, the Tea Board of India expects to export 11,000 tonnes of tea to that country this year, a top official said here Thursday.
'We expect that the export to Pakistan will be decent this fiscal. There is no problem yet with tea trading though official visits are stopped,' Basudeb Banerjee, chairman of the board, told reporters.
The total tea export to Pakistan last year was in the tune of 5,000 tonnes.
Ruling out any impact of the global economic meltdown on the tea industry, Banerjee said: 'Demand for tea won't be affected due to the slowdown. Rather, tea consumption rises during recession as people shift from other costly beverages to tea.'
Talking about the export in the current fiscal (2008-09), Banerjee said: 'Our export this year will be more than what we did last fiscal.'
Last fiscal, India exported 189,000 tonnes and this year it expects to achieve 195,000-200,000 tonnes against a target of 205,000 tonnes, he said.
