McLeod Russel India Ltd is an Indian tea company. It is currently the world's largest tea growing company.[1]
It is part of the Williamson Magor Group. It has Thirty One tea estates in the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam and Two in the Dooars region of West Bengal, three factories in Vietnam and six estates in Uganda. McLeod Russel produces more than 90 million kilograms of black tea every year.
History
The tale of McLeod Russel began in 1869 when Captain J.H. Williamson and Richard Boycott Magor, two Calcutta-based Englishmen, formed a partnership firm, Williamson Magor & Company, to service the requirements of tea estates in Assam. Brij Mohan Khaitan, who had a long-standing relationship with the Company by virtue of being the principal supplier of Packaging Materials and Fertilizers, was invited to join the Board of Directors in 1963. Mr. B. M. Khaitan eventually became the Managing Director in 1964 and took the Company to new heights.
Over the next half century, the McLeod Russel group has grown and acquired a number of well-established and internationally recognised tea companies, including Williamson Tea Assam, Doom Dooma Tea Company, Moran Tea Company in India, Phu Ben Tea Company in Vietnam and Rwenzori Tea Investments.
It has another subsidiary in Uganda, Mcleod Russel Uganda Limited which cultivates, manufactures and markets tea.