Assam declares tea State Drink, India may follow suit
During the inauguration of the three-day World Tea Science Congress in Assam, India, the chief minister of Assam declared tea as the State Drink. According to him, this would help increase its value and promote Assam tea as a brand. The region of Assam represents 51% of India's tea output and 13% of global production. Local industry employs over 500,000 permanent workers and approximately the same amount of seasonal staff. Also speaking at the event was former president of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who suggested that the next step would be to declare tea the national drink of India. He also recommended to diversify into value-added areas, such as medicinal tea, organic tea and flavored tea in order to grow the industry.