Parul
The Tea Board has sought an assistance of Rs 1000 crore for the industry in the next five years starting 2022-23.
Chairman of Tea Board Saurav Pahari said that in the budget submitted to the commerce ministry, the focus has been on handholding the small tea growers (STGs) which contribute to 52 per cent of the total production in the country.
“We have sought an assistance of Rs 1000 crore in the budget submitted to the ministry for a period of five years starting 2022-23,” Pahari told reporters after the AGM of the Indian Tea Association (ITA) here on Thursday.
He said that the budget is primarily intended to handhold the STGs which contribute to 52 per cent of the country’s production volumes.
Pahari said that the Board had also sought subsidy for orthodox tea production which has a good export market.
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“It is good to note that the tea industry on the whole now acknowledges the contribution of the STGs. It should be a collaborative effort between the big tea planters and the STGs for the development of the industry,” Pahari said.
He said tea exports had plummeted but now are picking up.
“However, domestic production has not picked up as expected. India needs to build the brand image of tea,” he added.
He also said that technology has to be adopted to optimise the use of labour in the industry, while production costs have to be kept within control to ensure profitability.
Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) to the government V Anantha Nageswaran said through a video clip that the share of India in global GDP has increased from 2.6 per cent to 3.4 per cent.
The world is passing through multiple crises like high inflation, high interest rates and an increase in commodity prices, he said.
Nageswaran said that India had responded to the crises by targetted fiscal and monetary policies and gave a lot of stimulus in the last three years. The MSME sector had been supported through the credit guarantee scheme, the CEA said.
Chairperson of ITA Nayantara Pal Choudhuri said that tea exports during 2022 are expected to touch 230 million kilograms, as compared to 196 million kilograms in the 2021 calendar year.
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She also said that cheap quality tea from some countries which are not FSSAI compliant needs to be addressed immediately.
She said the financial stress of the Darjeeling tea industry was plagued by falling production due to reducing yields, rising input costs and almost stagnant prices.
Pal Choudhuri has been also appointed as the chairperson of the proposed Asia Tea Alliance where the industry bodies of Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Nepal, and Bangladesh will be members.
The alliance in collaboration with Solidaridad Asia will work on issues like trade promotion, boosting tea consumption and exchange of technology.
