The export of tea in the first quarter of the current fiscal year increased by 36 per cent compared with the year on year from the Mechi Customs Office.

The Office said that 6,426 metric tonnes of tea was exported in the first three months of the current fiscal year.

Information Officer of Mechi Customs Office Ganapati Kandel said the export of tea, in terms of price, increased by more than 50 per cent compared to the same period last year and totaled Rs 1.71 billion.

Chairman of the Nepal Tea Producers Association Aditya Parajuli said that the export of Nepali tea increased due to a decline in its production in India.

Parajuli hoped that the export of Nepali tea would increase further if facilitation efforts were made from the government side.

However, the export of cardamom has decreased by 49 per cent in the first three months of the current fiscal year. During the period, a total of 783 metric tonnes of cardamom was exported against the export of 1,525 metric tonnes in the same period of the last fiscal year.

The Mechi Customs Office stated that exports of plywood, broom grass and veneer sheets increased impressively during the first three months of the current fiscal while the export of ginger, Chhuri, iron and vegetables decreased.