Tea production in Bangladesh tea began in the Mulnicherra Estate in Sylhet in 1857. The Surma River Valley in the Sylhet region emerged as the centre of tea cultivation in Eastern Bengal. Plantations also flourished in Lower Tippera (modern Comilla) and Panchagarh which in North Bengal.Panchagarh is the only third tea zone in Bangladesh and most demanded teas cultivated here. Tea was a major export of British Bengal. The Assam Bengal Railway served as a lifeline for the industry, transporting tea from growers in the Surma and Brahmaputra Valleys to exporters in the Port of Chittagong. The Chittagong Tea Auction was established in 1949
Tea production in Sri Lanka ( million lbs) in 2000. World tea production in 2001 rose 3.7% to 3.022 million tonnes ( million short tons), but in Sri Lanka tea exports rose to an all-time high of $658 million from $595 million the previous year. Currently, however, Sri Lanka, whilst the world's largest exporter of tea, is far behind India and China in terms of total production. In 2003 the government in Sri Lanka sought to protect the country's near $700 million tea industry during the 2003 Iraq War. The war in Iraq caused panic, particularly among small-scale Sri Lankan tea growers who represent 69%