NEW DELHI, May 16 � The demand for declaring tea as a national drink is unlikely to be approved by the Centre, as the proposal has met with resistance from coffee producing States.
A proposal to declare tea as the national drink of India was earlier examined during 2006 in consultation with the Central Ministries and departments concerned and the States. The matter was not pursued further as objections were raised by some of the State Governments, said Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Jyotiraditya Scindia in a Rajya Sabha reply to a question by Biren Baishya.
It was felt that coffee is a competing beverage and both have respective market shares and declaring one particular beverage as a �national drink� will likely be at the cost of the other, he argued.�The Centre received representations from Joint Forum of Assam Tea Planters� Association, North Eastern Tea Association and Bharatiya Chah Parishad calling for declaring tea as a national drink, as it is consumed by a large section of people. The move would contribute to its brand building exercise.
