SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 25 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 24 of 99

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 10 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

According to the Tea Board of India’s report (2021-22), which group of states in India is the largest tea producer?

(a)Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand
(b)West Bengal and Assam
(c)Andhra Pradesh and Kerala
(d)Tamil Nadu and Kerala

Answer

Why

Correct — B. India's tea comes overwhelmingly from the north-east, where Assam is the largest producing State and West Bengal the second — option (b).

Assam's gardens lie in the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys. West Bengal's are the Darjeeling hills and the Terai and Dooars belt below them.

The crop follows the climate: tea wants heavy rainfall, warm humid air and well-drained sloping ground, and this belt supplies all three.

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand — Kangra in Himachal Pradesh and small gardens in Uttarakhand do grow tea, but the output is slight beside the north-eastern belt and neither is a leading producer.
(c)
Andhra Pradesh and Kerala — Kerala is a genuine tea State, with Munnar and Wayanad, but Andhra Pradesh grows no tea of any consequence, so the pair fails on its second name.
(d)
Tamil Nadu and Kerala — Tamil Nadu and Kerala lead southern tea, from the Nilgiris and the Idukki and Wayanad hills, but South India as a whole produces far less than Assam and West Bengal.

Concept

Tea is a plantation crop, and plantation crops are learnt by State and hill range rather than by soil type.

The north-eastern belt dominates output — Assam's Brahmaputra and Barak valleys, and West Bengal's Darjeeling, Terai and Dooars.

South India is the second region, mainly the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu and the Idukki and Wayanad hills in Kerala.

The bush needs a hot, humid climate, heavy and well-distributed rainfall, and deep, well-drained acidic soil on a slope, since standing water kills it.

The question cites the Tea Board of India's report for 2021-22, so it is asking about production volume, not reputation. Darjeeling is the famous name; Assam is the large one.

Key facts

Assam is India's largest tea-producing State and West Bengal is second.
Assam's tea belt lies in the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys.
West Bengal grows tea in Darjeeling and in the Terai and Dooars.
The Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu and Idukki and Wayanad in Kerala are the main southern tea districts.

Study next

Plantation crops of India — tea, coffee, rubber and spices by StateDarjeeling tea and its geographical indication tagClimatic and soil requirements of tea and coffee compared

Common traps

Choosing Tamil Nadu and Kerala because the southern hills are famous for tea estates.
Answering from Darjeeling's reputation rather than from Assam's volume.

Crop items name a report or a year and ask for the leading State or pair of States. Read the crop and the ranking word first, because a famous growing region is not always the largest producer.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.