LPG is used to heat the air needed for withering and drying tea leaves.

IMAGE: Workers carry freshly plucked tea leaves. Photograph: Sahiba Chawdhary/Reuters

Tea planters in Darjeeling have raised that a shortage of commercial LPG, triggered by the ongoing conflict in West Asia, could hit tea processing during the first flush, the delicate early-season harvest that commands the highest premiums and often sets the tone for the year.

Industry bodies, the Darjeeling Tea Association (DTA) and the Indian Tea Association (ITA), have separately written to the Tea Board of India, flagging concerns over fuel curbs.

Sources in the Tea Board said the Ministry of Commerce had sought a report after consulting stakeholders.

“Accordingly, after consulting them, we have submitted a report along with our suggestions,” they said.

Amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) issued orders on March 5 and March 9, directing refineries and petrochemical complexes to maximise LPG production and prioritise supplies for households and essential services such as hospitals and educational institutions.

Commercial and industrial users were placed lower in the supply hierarchy.

In a March 10 letter to the Tea Board’s deputy chairman, the DTA said the order could lead to a shortage of industrial LPG for tea estate factories.

It warned that this would directly affect the manufacturing of Darjeeling tea, which supports 55,000 permanent workers and their families, especially during the export-oriented first flush.

Around 41 per cent of Darjeeling tea is exported.

The first and second flushes, the premium plucking seasons for India’s heritage GI (geographical indication) Darjeeling tea, account for about 40 per cent of annual output but generate nearly 80 per cent of annual revenue.

Any disruption during this period would sound the death knell for the already struggling Darjeeling tea sector, said Anshuman Kanoria, chairman of the Indian Tea Exporters Association (ITEA).

Why LPG is used in tea gardens

He noted that Darjeeling tea gardens maintain limited stocks of 47.5-kg LPG cylinders, whose prices have risen sharply.

“Moreover, supplies have been stopped following the government notification,” he said.

“If the supply of LPG cylinders is not restored immediately, the gardens may be forced to shut operations, affecting Darjeeling tea exports as well as the sustainability and future of the gardens and their workers,” he added.

LPG is used to heat the air needed for withering and drying tea leaves.

Over the past decade, most tea estate factories in Darjeeling shifted from coal-fired systems to industrial LPG after export consignments were found to contain anthraquinone, triggering trade-related issues, said Sandip Mukherjee, principal advisor to the DTA.

As a result, the industry is now almost entirely dependent on commercial LPG.

Mukherjee added that a majority of tea estates rely on HPCL for LPG supplies, and the company has been unable to service these gardens, deepening uncertainty and raising the risk of shutdowns.

Arijit Raha, secretary general of the ITA, said that in upper Assam, most tea factories are connected to piped gas and tea figures on the priority supply list.

“But in Darjeeling, estates largely depend on commercial LPG cylinders.

“We have represented to the Tea Board and IOC to ensure uninterrupted supply duri­ng this crucial first flush period, and the situation is being monitored regularly by our Darjeeling branch office to sustain supplies.”

Shaibal Dutt, managing director of Goodricke Group, said the company’s gas stocks in Darjeeling would last another fortnight.

“But if supplies do not resume from April, we will be in a spot.”

He added, “In the worst-case scenario, we may have to switch back to coal, which will require some modifications to the factories.

“But if the situation does not improve, we may have to make this change.”

The company has five gardens in Darjeeling.

The fuel shortage could hurt production, raise costs, reduce revenue and affect tea quality, said Abhishek Bagaria, director of Bagaria Group.

“About 22 per cent of the total production is during the first flush.”

The group has three gardens in Darjeeling.

The industry’s concerns are sharper because the Darjeeling tea sector is already on a fragile footing as it grapples with climate change, labour absenteeism, declining yields and rising competition from Nepal teas.