Assam govt sops to tea sector to boost exports: ITA

Kolkata, Mar 7 () The Indian Tea Association onSaturday said the Assam government's decision to provideorthodox tea subsidy of Rs 7 per kg will boost exports of thebeverage.

The apex body of the tea industry in the country saidthe subsidy on machinery purchase to manufacturing units forproducing orthodox tea will motivate them to produce suchvariety.

The Assam government made these announcements in thestate budget for 2020-21 fiscal, presented on Friday.

The northeastern state, the largest producer of tea inthe country, has also allowed interest subvention of 3 percent on all term loans and working capital advances which willlead to lower cost of fund and subsequently, encouragemodernisation of factories.

ITA secretary general Arijit Raha said Assam producesnearly 70 million kgs of ortodox tea, the highest in thecountry.

"Now, exports of tea from India is virtually stagnantat around 250 million kgs. Orthodox tea has wide acceptance inthe overseas markets. If the producers manufacture moreorthodox tea, the probability of increasing exports willrise," Raha told .

He said these steps will go a long way in revival ofthe tea industry which has been reeling under financial stressdue to increasing cost of production and stagnant pricerealisations for the last several years.

Meanwhile, the Joint Forum of Assam Tea Planters'Association, North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) andBharatiya Cha Parishad said that the state government'sdecision to withdraw agricultural income tax for three yearswill greatly help the industry.

Adviser to NETA Bidyanand Barkakoty said the industryalso appeals to the government to include other varities oftea such as green, purple, yellow and Oolong under the Rs 7per kg subsidy scheme. DCBDC BDC