LPG shortage hits Darjeeling tea production, association flags risk
Times of India | 13 March 2026
KOLKATA: Production of Darjeeling tea may face further decline due to a shortage of industrial LPG, the Darjeeling Tea Association has warned, highlighting the risk of supply disruptions to factories in the West Bengal district.
In a recent letter addressed to the deputy chairman of the Tea Board in Kolkata, the association referred to a communication from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The letter mentioned that all public sector oil marketing companies had been instructed to supply and market LPG exclusively to households, according to news agency PTI.
The association cautioned that this directive could lead to the non-availability of industrial LPG for tea estate factories, directly affecting the production of Darjeeling tea and the livelihoods of 55,000 permanent workers and their families.
"The members of this association request to use your good offices with the concerned ministry to ensure uninterrupted supply of industrial LPG to the factories of the Darjeeling tea industry," the letter stated.
It was also noted that over the past decade, Darjeeling tea estates have largely switched their factories from coal-fired systems to industrial LPG.
This situation comes at a particularly sensitive time for the Darjeeling tea industry, which has been facing a prolonged production crisis. Output has fallen sharply from a peak of around 14 million kg in 1990 to under 6 million kg in recent years, with 2024 and 2025 recording historic lows. Data for January-November 2025 showed an additional 8.79 per cent drop compared to the same period in 2024.
The industry continues to face structural challenges on multiple fronts. Cheaper tea from Nepal, often similar in characteristics, has flooded the domestic market, causing price stagnation for certified Darjeeling tea, industry sources said.
Analysts have also pointed to insufficient bush replacement in gardens as a factor behind the sustained output decline, arguing that the industry has not done enough to rejuvenate ageing plantations.
Any interruption in industrial LPG supply during the first flush – the season that commands the highest global premium and whose entire produce is largely exported – could deal a further blow to an industry already struggling to reverse its decline, they added.