<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . (August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . (August 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> India is one of the largest tea producers in the world, although over 70 percent of its tea is consumed within India itself . In this, India is also among the top 5 per - capita tea consumers . A number of renowned teas, such as Assam and Darjeeling, also grow exclusively in India . The Indian tea industry has grown to own many global tea brands and has evolved into one of the most technologically equipped tea industries in the world . Tea production, certification, exportation, and all other facets of the tea trade in India is controlled by the Tea Board of India . </P> <P> The introduction of Chinese tea plants, different from Indian Tea, to India is commonly credited to Robert Fortune . Fortune employed many different means to steal tea plants and seedlings, which were regarded as property of the Chinese empire . He is also known for his use of Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward's portable Wardian cases to sustain the plants . Using these small greenhouses, Fortune introduced 20,000 tea plants and seedlings to the Darjeeling region of India . He also illegally brought a group of trained Chinese tea workers who would facilitate the production of tea leaves . With the exception of a few plants which survived in established Indian gardens, most of the Chinese tea plants Fortune introduced to India perished . The technology and knowledge that was brought over from China, however, may have been instrumental in the later flourishing of the Indian tea industry . </P>

The state which is the largest producer of tea in india