Darjeeling tea industry has heaved a sigh of relief as most of the planters in the hills have witnessed higher crop for the premium first flush tea this time than the last two years backed by better weather conditions.

In the last two years the industry had suffered significant crop losses for the high-value first flush teas due to prolonged dry spell. This year, the overall crop size is likely to grow by around 30 per cent compared to last year.

“The first flush tea has been better this year. It has been better than the last two years. Last two years had been exceptionally bad. This time the weather conditions were better,” Indian Tea Exporters Association (ITEA) chairman Anshuman Kanoria told businessline.

The first flush crop in the Darjeeling hills, known as the world’s most expensive tea, constitutes around 20 per cent of the total production in the hills in a calendar year.

Because of its high quality and price, this premium tea accounts for around 40 per cent of annual revenue for Darjeeling tea producers.

Plucking of the first flush, which marks the start of a new season, generally starts from mid-March. Plucking ends by the end of April.

“Crop wise the first flush has been good. This time almost every garden in the hills has received good rains. As a result, almost all the tea growers have witnessed an increase in crop size. The overall first flush crop size for the industry this year is expected to increase by around 30 per cent compared to last year,” said Himangshu Kumar Shaw, owner of Giddapahar Tea Estate, located on the slopes of Kurseong valley.

Darjeeling tea depends on rains and favourable weather for both quantity and quality of the first flush, which is special and fetches the highest price in the market.

Notably, the production of Darjeeling tea fell below 6 million kgs (mkg) in 2024, when the hills had produced 5.60 mkg of the brew. The production declined further to 5.30 mkg last year, and it could be the lowest output in recent history.

In the overseas markets, shipments of Darjeeling tea are generally around 3-3.25 million kgs annually. Europe and Japan are the two large overseas markets for this premium tea, the first product to get a geographical identification (GI) tag in India.

Published on May 6, 2026