(1) This Act may be called the Tea Act, 1953.

(2) It extends to the whole of India:

Provided that it shall not apply to the State of Jammu and Kashmir* except to the extent to which the provisions of this Act relate to the control of the export of tea from, and the cultivation of tea in, India.

(3) It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.1. 1st April, 1956; see notification No. S.R.O. 943, dated the 17th March 1954, Gazette of India, Extraordinary, 1954, Part II, s. 3 *. Vide notification No. S.O. 3912(E), dated 30th October, 2019, this Act is made applicable to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union territory of Ladakh.