The tea bush originated in the area where India, China and Myanmar meet, in the hot wet mountainous regions of the Eastern Himalayas. It was originally eaten and drunk by tribal groups in this area. Over two thousand years ago it was used as a medicine and aid to concentration in China, being helped by the expansion of Buddhism from India.

There exists a 10th century CE Sanskrit medical text from Assam called Nidana that mentions leaves called shamapatra from which shamapani is made. Historians are conflicted as to whether this is the first mention of tea in India.

Before the commercialization of tea began in Assam, the leaves of the tea plant were chewed by the local villagers (Singphos) with little or no processing. This continues in certain inaccessible regions of southeastern Assam, as well as in neighbouring regions of Myanmar. Today tea plants are found to be in abundance growing wildly in the hills of Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, some of them are of 100 years old. Bodos (pronounced BO-ROs) were the earliest settlers of Assam. It is likely that Bodos may have brought tea and rice to Assam.

Tea Board provides financial assistance in the form of loan and subsidy for various activities like uprooting of old and un-economic bushes and replanting with quality planting materials, rejuvenation pruning with infilling of vacancies, new plantation in the small growers sector of traditional as well as non traditional areas and also for creation of facilities to upgrade the quality besides creation of irrigation facilities and formation of self help groups for better realization of price. For support in case of low realization of price for the Tea Growers Price subsidy and price stabilization fund scheme are also introduced for a limited period, with the prime objective of enhancing the quantity as well as quality for sustaining in the world as well as domestic tea market.

Apart from various ongoing developmental activities Tea Board has also provided grant to the various nodal agencies on need based project for not only improving the productivity but also to uplift socio-economic condition of local inhabitants.