Assam veteran tea planter Bidyananda Barkakoty receives ASSOCHAM Legacy & Heritage Award

Guwahati: Veteran tea planter and former Tea Board of India vice-chairman Bidyananda Barkakoty was conferred the ASSOCHAM Legacy & Heritage Excellence Award 2026 on Wednesday in recognition of his contribution to preserving and advancing one of Assam’s oldest tea-planting legacies.The award was presented by West Bengal finance minister Swapan Dasgupta at the first edition of the Growth Driven Family Business Conclave & Excellence Awards organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) in Kolkata.A fifth-generation tea planter from Assam, Barkakoty was honoured for carrying forward a family association with the tea industry that dates back to the British era.

The Barkakoty family traces its tea-planting roots to Sarbananda Borkakoty, regarded as one of the pioneering Indian tea entrepreneurs who entered the industry at a time when tea cultivation was largely dominated by British planters.ASSOCHAM recognised Barkakoty’s role in preserving the family’s tea-growing heritage while contributing to the development of the industry through various leadership positions.

A mechanical engineer by training, Barkakoty has held several key positions in the tea sector, including vice-chairman of the Tea Board of India and chairman of the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA). He currently serves as an adviser to NETA.Accepting the award, Barkakoty dedicated the honour to successive generations of his family and to the tea growers and workers whose efforts, he said, have helped make Assam tea globally renowned.Industry representatives described the recognition as an acknowledgement of Assam’s long-standing contribution to India’s tea sector and the role played by family-run tea enterprises in sustaining the industry’s growth over generations.