NEW DELHI: India’s tea industry, the world’s largest, has suffered heavy losses because of a 10-day-old strike, but union leaders vowed on Wednesday to continue their indefinite action.

Industry officials said tea estates were losing about 200 million rupees ($4.6 million) a day. Union leaders, representing about 300,000 workers, said they would call off the strike only if employers agreed to raise wages.

The strike has shut down more than 300 estates in the eastern state of West Bengal, including those in the foothills of the Himalayas that produce the famous Darjeeling tea.

India’s tea industry, which produced 831 million kg last year, has been hit in recent years by high production costs and sluggish exports due to competition from Sri Lanka, Kenya, Vietnam and Bangladesh.—Reuters