McLeod Russel India Limited is an Indian tea-producing company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is part of the Williamson Magor Group, one of the oldest business houses associated with the Indian tea industry. The company is engaged primarily in the cultivation, manufacture and sale of black tea, with operations historically spread across Assam and the Dooars region of West Bengal.
| Name | McLeod Russel India Limited |
|---|---|
| Industry | Tea cultivation and processing |
| Headquarters | Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
| Parent group | Williamson Magor Group |
| Listings | BSE, NSE |
| Principal product | Black tea (CTC and orthodox) |
| Major operating regions | Assam, Dooars (West Bengal) |
The McLeod Russel name traces its origins to colonial-era British managing agencies that handled tea estates in eastern India. The modern Indian entity emerged through a corporate restructuring within the Williamson Magor Group, which consolidated its tea garden interests under McLeod Russel India Limited. The company became, for a period, one of the largest bulk tea producers in the world, operating a substantial number of tea estates in the Brahmaputra valley and adjoining regions.
The company's tea estates produce black tea using both the Crush, Tear, Curl (CTC) method, which dominates Indian domestic consumption, and the orthodox method, which is favoured in several export markets. McLeod Russel has historically supplied tea to domestic packeteers and blenders as well as to overseas buyers in markets such as the United Kingdom, the Middle East, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Its plantations are concentrated in Upper Assam, the Brahmaputra valley and the Dooars belt of northern West Bengal — regions that together account for the majority of India's tea output. Each estate typically combines plantations with on-site processing factories.
McLeod Russel is associated with the Khaitan family, who have led the Williamson Magor Group for several generations. The group has historically held interests in tea, engineering and energy, with McLeod Russel functioning as the dedicated tea arm. The company has at various times pursued international acquisitions, expanding its footprint into tea-growing operations outside India, including in Africa and Vietnam.
As one of the principal listed pure-play tea companies in India, McLeod Russel has been viewed as a bellwether for the bulk tea industry. Its scale of production, estate ownership pattern and exposure to global tea prices have made it a frequently cited reference point in discussions of the Indian plantation sector, labour practices in tea gardens, and the cyclical economics of bulk tea.