The Tea Board of India on October 22, 2026, notified the revised Guidelines for New Tea Factories and Capacity Expansion.
The following has been stated:
• The Board has revised the guidelines for issuing No Objection Certificates (NOCs) and Registration Certificates (RCs) for new tea factories and capacity expansion to promote Ease of Doing Business and support the target of producing 2,000 million kg of tea by 2030. NOCs for new factories with annual capacity up to 5 lakh kg will be issued only for Orthodox, Green, White, Oolong or Specialty teas, with a validity of three years and no extension. Applications shall be submitted online. Capacity enhancement applications shall satisfy prescribed green leaf price and public auction requirements and will be processed through a fast-track review without physical inspection. Applicants shall comply with the Tea (Marketing) Control Order, 2003, FSSAI standards, periodic tea sampling, and online reporting requirements.
• Factories registered for specified specialty teas cannot be converted to CTC manufacturing for 15 years. Fresh applications for CTC tea factories will not be accepted from the implementation date, while existing pending applications will be considered.
• The revised guidelines will take effect within two weeks of issuance.
[Notification No. - LC-TMCO/3/2026-Licensing/1401]
