North East India Specialisation

The North East India Specialisation takes participants into India’s lush highlands — where plantations, ecology, and enterprise meet. This program explores the tea and coffee industries of Darjeeling and Assam alongside emerging eco-tourism, handloom, and agro-based enterprises that are redefining sustainable development in the region.

Over six days, participants engage with planters, cooperatives, and policymakers to understand how the North East contributes to India’s economic, cultural, and environmental identity. Through field visits, factory tours, and reflective seminars, learners gain insight into how traditional plantation economies are evolving through innovation, community ownership, and global trade.

Note: The itinerary is indicative and subject to change based on institutional partnerships and seasonal availability.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 — Darjeeling: The Heritage of Tea
Orientation in Darjeeling, the heart of India’s premium tea industry. Visit an iconic tea estate to learn about cultivation, grading, and export processes. Afternoon seminar: Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Challenges in Plantation Economies.
Evening cultural walk through Mall Road and Observatory Hill.

Day 2 — Darjeeling: Women, Labour, and Sustainability
Engage with women’s self-help groups and local cooperatives involved in sustainable tea cultivation and packaging. Visit a boutique tea brand showcasing fair-trade practices and innovation in product design.
Evening reflection: From Plantation to Sustainable Enterprise.

Day 3 — Siliguri: Trade, Logistics, and Value Chains
Travel to Siliguri, the logistical hub connecting the plains and the hills. Visit a warehousing facility and small-scale processing unit to understand export linkages. Interaction with tea traders and entrepreneurs working in packaging, logistics, and marketing.

Day 4 — Guwahati: Assam Tea and Industrial Growth
Visit Assam’s tea belt near Guwahati and explore the Tea Auction Centre — the world’s largest of its kind. Meet with the Tea Board of India officials and private-sector experts. Afternoon visit to a small coffee estate experimenting with organic production and agroforestry.

Day 5 — Shillong: Coffee, Crafts, and Creative Industry
Proceed to Shillong, a growing hub for artisanal coffee and sustainable enterprise. Visit a local coffee roastery and interact with entrepreneurs in handicrafts, bamboo design, and eco-innovation. Seminar on Creative Industries and the Future of the North East Economy.

Day 6 — Shillong: Reflection and Policy Dialogue
Wrap up with a policy roundtable on sustainable livelihoods and regional integration. Participants present brief field reflections connecting industry, culture, and environment. Closing ceremony and certificate distribution.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand the historical and contemporary dynamics of the tea and coffee industries in the Eastern Himalayas.

• Explore the intersections of ecology, enterprise, and sustainability in plantation-based economies.

• Analyse how North East India integrates with global trade networks through tea, coffee, and eco-industries.

• Engage with entrepreneurs, cooperatives, and policymakers shaping the region’s economic future.

• Develop a comparative lens on India’s regional industrial diversity and community-based innovation.