At the same time, the famine was finally leading to Bengal land revenues falling. Meanwhile, overpriced EIC tea was lying unsold in vast quantities in its London warehouses: unsold stock had risen from around £1 million in 1762 to more than £3 million in 1772. This coincided with military expenses doubling from 1764 to 1770, while the cost of the 12.5 per cent dividend had added nearly £1 million a year* to the EIC expenses. The books were now very far from balancing.
