Just about to put the kettle on? India hopes so. Our love of a cup of tea could push the number of Britons visiting India over the million mark next year.

Tourist officials have launched a campaign based on staying at plantation houses on tea estates in the northeast and south of the country. Officials hope that the overall number of arrivals from Britain will rise from 796,000 last year to more than a million this year and next.

British tourism to India has already risen by a fifth in the past three years. The campaign highlights India's 500-plus tea plantations, many of which have accommodation for visitors - some furnished to a five-star standard. The regions of Sikkim, Darjeeling and Assam in the northeast have the majority of plantations, while there are also tea estates with rooms in Munnar in Kerala.

Sujit Banerjee, secretary of India's Ministry of Tourism, says: “People can stay in one of the luxurious old colonial buildings, with a veranda surrounding the rooms. It's a great place to sit and watch tea-pickers with wicker baskets on their backs, picking the newest leaves and tossing them into the baskets. There is a great camaraderie and workers often sing songs to pass the time of day.”

Banerjee added that average tea estates range in size from 100 to 500 acres. He recommends visiting the plantation where Makaibari tea is produced in Darjeeling: “The owner wears a solar topi and breeches and rides a horse to inspect the estate.” Another popular upmarket choice is the Glenburn Tea Estate, also in Darjeeling - where rooms are £100 a night.

Trailfinders has created one of the first “tea tourism” tours of India, staying at an estate in Munnar, Kerala, on a nine-day trip from £1,599, flights included. Stays at the Glenburn estate in Darjeeling can also be arranged. Mahindra Homestays has breaks in peoples's homes in India, and less expensive rooms in plantations in Kerala from about £50 a night.

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