CALCUTTA, Nov 28: India’s tea exports to Pakistan in the first 10 months of 2003 increased to 4.11 million kg, up 11 per cent against the corresponding period last year, industry officials said on Friday.

India is the world’s largest tea producer and is increasingly looking at Pakistan, the third-largest importer after Russia and Britain, to partially offset its declining exports.

“We want to try and bridge the big gap in exports this year compared to last year and hope the Pakistan market would play a role in this,” Sujit Patra, Deputy Secretary of the Indian Tea Association (ITA), told Reuters.

In June, the ITA signed an agreement with Pakistani officials to triple exports to Pakistan in less than a year.

Last year, India’s exports to its western neighbour were 3.71 million kg.

Pakistan, which imports about 130-140 million kg a year, buys about 65 per cent of its tea from Kenya.

India’s tea exports for January-September 2003 plunged 30 per cent to 105 million kg year-on-year mainly because of the US-led war in Iraq.

India exported 198 million kg last year but in 2003 the sales are likely to be sharply lower, industry officials said.

The country’s tea production, up seven per cent between January-September 2003 to 638 million kg from a year ago period, is hitting auction prices.—Reuters