Sri Lanka NDB Bank unveils Tea Manufacturer Finance Program

NDB Bank has launched the Tea Manufacturer Finance Program to support Sri Lankan tea producers and exporters with affordable, flexible funding aimed at boosting productivity, quality, and global competitiveness. The initiative provides low-interest financing with simplified documentation and instant disbursements based on Goods Received Notes, catering to tea factories of all scales. Emphasizing tea’s role as a pillar of the national economy, NDB aims to help manufacturers modernize and expand through accessible, purpose-driven financial solutions that strengthen the export and plantation sectors.

Courtesy: The Planters’ Association of Ceylon (31 October 2025)

Endane Biodiversity Corridor – Reuniting forest, rekindling life Journalist

Dilmah Conservation’s Endane Biodiversity Corridor, initiated in 2018 by Merrill J. Fernando on the Endane Tea Estate, transformed over 40 hectares of tea cultivation into a rainforest link between the Iharakanda and Walankanda forest reserves within the Sinharaja landscape. The project has restored habitat connectivity, conserved 549 tree species, and replanted over 7,000 trees, including 78 globally threatened species and two once-extinct rainforest plants. Supported by the Franklinia Foundation, it also involves 40 local families cultivating mixed home gardens as buffer zones. The initiative integrates research, education, and community stewardship, reflecting a holistic model where conservation and plantation coexist.

Courtesy: The Planters’ Association of Ceylon (31 October 2025)

Hayleys Plantations partners Solidaridad to strengthen global leadership in Regen Agri

Hayleys Plantations, comprising Kelani Valley, Talawakelle, and Horana Plantations, has partnered with Solidaridad Network Asia and Nucleus Foundation to expand regenerative agriculture and carbon insetting programmes across its estates. The collaboration builds on Halgolla Estate’s achievement as the world’s first Regenagri®-certified tea estate and will extend these protocols to enhance traceability, competitiveness, and sustainability. The estates will generate verified Carbon Removal Units under Regenagri® frameworks and align with EU regulations such as EUDR and CSDDD. The initiative strengthens Sri Lanka’s position in sustainable tea production while improving soil, ecosystem health, and long-term plantation resilience

Courtesy: The Planters’ Association of Ceylon (31 October 2025)

India India tea consumption stagnating

India is a tea-loving country with a penetration of 99.9 per cent. Yet, the average per capita consumption is only 840 gm – well below the per capita consumption of many prominent tea-consuming nations.

Tea must be repositioned not just as a conventional drink, but as a sustainable beverage resonating health and wellness, and as an aspirational product for the youth. As tea consumption growth is stagnating at 2 per cent compared to 7-9 percent of other beverages including coffee, a strategic roadmap by the government, Tea Board and the industry is required for the generic promotion of tea.

Innovations using technology and ensuring product consistency are key for the growth of the industry.

Source: Hindu Business Line (Extracts), Courtesy: Tea Exporters’ Association Sri Lanka