Tea industries in Jhapa shut down due to Indian export blockade

Tea industries and plantations in Jhapa have shut down after no concrete efforts were made to lift the blockade imposed by the Indian Tea Board on the export of Nepali tea for about 45 days. The Nepal Tea Producers Association announced the closure of industries and plantations from Thursday during a press conference in Bhadrapur, Jhapa.

Jhapa is home to more than 30 tea industries and around two dozen tea plantations. Previously, over 53 orthodox tea industries in Ilam were already closed from Ashadh 1 due to the same issue.

The Indian Tea Board implemented a new ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ from May 1, 2026, requiring mandatory testing of each consignment of tea. According to industry representatives, this procedure is highly impractical and amounts to an ‘undeclared blockade’ for Nepal. The provision mandates that tea cannot be sold until the test report, which takes more than 20 days, is received. If the tea fails, it must be destroyed or returned, leaving trucks carrying Nepali tea stranded in Kolkata.

Currently, over 300,000 kilograms of tea are stuck in India, while more than 700,000 kilograms of processed tea are stored in the industries’ warehouses. The halt in tea exports has severely affected the national economy, farmers, workers, and businesses. According to the association’s president, Aditya Parajuli, Nepal’s annual tea trade amounts to 12 to 14 billion rupees, with around 5 billion rupees worth of tea exported to India, bringing in foreign currency.

The sector provides direct employment to over 60,000 people and contributes approximately 1 billion rupees in annual revenue to the government. Despite demand for Nepali tea in Bangladesh, high customs duties have hindered exports there, according to industry representatives.

Business owners have expressed intense frustration and sorrow over the government’s lack of serious concern regarding this significant crisis in the tea sector. They have submitted memorandums to various bodies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture, and have repeatedly tried to meet with the Prime Minister, but to no avail. In the past, such issues were promptly addressed through diplomatic efforts, but the current government has not even granted a meeting, said President Parajuli. Business owners allege that Indian businesses mix Nepali tea with ‘Darjeeling brand’ tea, but are now deliberately causing trouble under the pretext of quality to weaken the market for Nepali tea.

Meanwhile, with the closure of industries and plantations, the green tea leaves of the main season (first flush) are beginning to spoil in the fields, prompting farmers to join the protest movement. Farmers and industry representatives have staged protest rallies on the Mechi Highway in Fikkal, Ilam. Since tea leaves must be plucked every seven days and even a day’s delay affects quality, the closure of industries has dealt a severe blow to farmers’ livelihoods.

On the other hand, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry has also prioritized this sensitive issue, urging the government to resolve it through high-level diplomatic dialogue with India immediately.