Newar said in a year when prices of essential commodities like foodgrains increased by more than 25 per cent, tea prices did not affect the common man at all. "In fact, the prevailing average tea price is Rs 71.89 per kg, which when put in accordance to wholesale price index should have been Rs 84.56 per kg. This effectively means a shortfall of Rs 12.67 for each kg of tea," the TAI chief said.Newar warned that the social cost of decelerating development in the tea industry would be muchhigher than the excise revenue collection.