Photograph — A hill tea garden, representative of India's smaller tea-growing regions (representative photograph). Source image unavailable; caption preserved.
Wikimedia Commons ↗
Tea Gardens · Himachal Pradesh — Kangra valley
Kangra Tea
Grown at moderate altitude in the Kangra valley since the mid-19th century, this tea has a distinctive, lightly astringent flavour and was historically exported to Europe and Central Asia.
GI status: GI-registered, 2005
Shelf life: 12–18 months, sealed
Women-led sector
| Category | Tea Gardens |
|---|---|
| Region | Himachal Pradesh — Kangra valley |
| GI status | GI-registered, 2005 |
| Typical shelf life | 12–18 months, sealed |
| Women's role in production | Plucking across Kangra's small tea gardens and family plots is largely carried out by women from the valley's farming households. |
Why this fits a low-wastage SHG model: Sealed, dried tea leaf is one of the safest long-shelf-life categories for a small hill-based producer collective to hold.