Indian tea industry on promotion blitz Guwahati: India's beleaguered tea industry, the world's largest producer, has launched an aggressive promotion back home touting the health benefits of drinking the beverage, in a bid to woo back the growing number of people turning to colas.

The industry's leaders have unveiled a number of instant tea drinks for the new- generation consumers, combined with an advertisement blitz. "There has been a slide in the number of people drinking tea nowadays. It is very worrying for the tea industry. We cannot be complacent about it. Hence, we have launched this aggressive campaign to promote tea as a health drink," Assam chapter of Indian Tea Association secretary Dhiraj Kakoty said.

Young Indians no longer consider it fashionable to drink tea and prefer to be seen sipping cola brands such as Pepsi and Coca Cola. The international cola majors pour millions into advertisements featuring Bollywood stars and cricket players.

"It is very difficult to know the exact consumption figure, but one thing is sure that there were hundred tonnes of tea which remained unsold with producers in 2001," said a senior tea planter in India's North-Eastern state of Assam.

The industry estimates that domestic tea consumption has fallen by at least 10 million kilograms since 2000. Industry captains have also held meetings with opinion makers and doctors, presenting research papers highlighting the advantages of drinking tea.

The industry plans to stock shop shelves with innovative beverages such as "Herbal tea" and "Iced tea" for the modern consumer.

However, loyal tea drinkers in India's tea heartland Assam scoff at the idea that the warm beverage could ever go out of their lifestyles, having found a place in their heart for generations.