Tea exports likely to slip below 203-m kg

Kochi : Payment defaults, rise in global production and appreciation of rupee have combined to pull Indian tea exports this year. The exporters feel that the tea export from India is likely to close much below 203-million kg achieved last year. The India tea export in January to August stood at 103.09 million kg compared with 122.50-million kg in the same period of the previous year. The decline has been for the South Indian tea, which fell by 26.5 million kg.

North Indian tea exports gained by over 7-million kg as it comprised mostly Orthodox variety of tea going to Russia and CIS, which are still active buyers. It was Iraq’s change from hero to villain in a matter of months that hit the South Indian tea industry most. The largest buyer of Indian tea in 2006, the country is being shunned by Indian tea exporters now due to heavy payment defaults.

Iraq had purchased 40-million kg of Indian tea in 2006, which was higher than that bought by Russia and CIS, which have been traditionally the largest buyer of Indian tea. “Exporters are avoiding Iraq as payment arrears of previous exports run into crore of rupees. Even when the country floated fresh tenders, exporters were reluctant to participate,” says tea exporter Krishnakumar J Shah.

For the six-month period of January to June, Iraq’s purchase of Indian tea amounted to 3.35-million kg against 23.42-million kg in the same period last year. If Pakistan turned out to be a promising destination for Indian tea last year, the general rise in global production particularly in Kenya, has put paid to that hopes. In the January –August period, Kenyan production has jumped by 34% to 244 million kg.

Kenya, a regular supplier of tea to Pakistan, was not able to meet the full quota last year because of a drought. This led Pakistan to look towards India. But this year Kenyan supply to Pakistan has improved considerably much to the disappointment of India.

Source: The Economic Times

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Indian Tea industry challenges faced

Tea - easily identifiable with India, immediately brings to mind the lush tea gardens of Darjeeling, Assam and the Nilgiris. The tea plant that was first discovered growing indigenously in Assam in 1815 by a traveller is today a well established industry in the country, producing more than 850 million kgs of tea annually.

The tea industry is one of the oldest organized industries in India with a large network of tea producers, retailers, distributors, auctioneers, exporters and packers and employs one of the largest workforces in the country.

It is a well-known fact that next to water, tea is the most widely consumed non-alcoholic beverage world over. It is grown in more than 32 countries among which India is the largest producer. Located in backward, rural and hilly areas, the tea plantations supplement the economic life of these regions through employment generation and social welfare and provide a higher standard of living at the grassroots level.

The industry provides direct employment to more than a million workers of which a sizeable number are women. More than two million persons derive their livelihood from ancillary activities associated with production, value addition and marketing of tea. The tea trade is a major contributor to the country’s economy. Substantial foreign exchange earnings with negligible import content, contribution to the State and Central exchequers, preserving a pollution free biosphere and soil conservation. are some of the important features of this industry.

Production and Export
With a history of tea making and tea drinking, it is not surprising that world over, Indian teas are appreciated for their unique flavor and aroma. India produces three specialty teas - Darjeeling, Assam and Nilgiris which are exported world over. Green and organic teas are also produced in India but in small quantities. Tea is grown in 13 States and Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are the largest producers. Though the major part of the tea production comes from big estate gardens, the contribution of the small grower segment has shown an increase in recent years with many small farmers in Assam, North Bengal and Bihar switching over to its production.

In 1998, the country produced the highest ever 870 million kgs of tea. Of this, 758 million kgs was Crushed-Torn-Curl (CTC), 104 million kgs was Orthodox (leaf tea) and 8 million kgs was accounted for by other types, which included green, organic and instant teas. Exports at 210 million kgs in 1998, were also the highest ever in the past decade. Despite being the world’s largest producer, India’s share both in world production and exports has declined over the years.

The country today accounts for 27.16 per cent of the global tea production and 13.09 per cent of the world trade. While production of tea during 2004-05 (April-July), estimated at 310 million kgs, has registered a substantial decline of about 29 million kgs as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, tea exports, estimated at 56.06 million kgs during 2004-05 (April-July), have shown an increase of 9.79 million kgs over the same period of the previous year.

Almost every tea-drinking nation in the world imports some variety of Indian tea! Due to an existing large domestic market for Indian tea, exports, however, account for less than 20 per cent i.e. domestic production.

Some of the constraints facing the Indian tea industry which directly affect production, productivity and quality, include the old age of bushes with more than 30 per cent of the tea area being above the economic threshold age limit, slower pace of re-plantation with the rate of replanting being less than 0.5 per cent as against the desired level of 2 per cent and the consistent fall in its auction prices which has adversely affected the investment in the plantations. The consequent decline in productivity along with increasing input costs have led many gardens to become sick or close down.

The share of Indian tea in the world market, on the other hand, has suffered in recent years due to the stiff competition from other producing and exporting countries like Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Kenya. Some other factors that have adversely affected the export potential of Indian tea include - various tariff and non-tariff measures imposed by some tea importing countries, lower off take by Russia due to change in consumer preferences, lower production of orthodox teas which have a larger demand worldwide, quality problems and the higher cost of production and prices of Indian tea.

Initiatives
The Tea Board of India, a statutory body of the Government has been entrusted with the task of the development of the tea industry. It has taken several initiatives to support the tea industry and overcome the challenges it is facing today. During the 10th Plan period, the Board is implementing a number of developmental schemes for enhancing the productivity, quality and marketability of the teas produced in the country. These include financial and technical assistance to various plantation development activities, such as replanting, rejuvenation, and creation of irrigation facilities. Export is also being focused upon with the implementation of a medium term export strategy. The production of quality teas, especially orthodox type of teas is being encouraged.

Media campaigns have been launched to increase consumer awareness for Indian teas besides extension of promotional support to Indian exporters in marketing Indian brands in principal export markets. The total 10th Plan outlay for the Tea Board is Rs.350 crore which is being utilized to rejuvenate the tea industry.

Special efforts are also being made to address the problems of the small growers of tea. These include measures like fixation of a price sharing formula between small tea growers and the manufacturers to enable the small growers to get a reasonable share of the price obtained for the made tea, implementation of a price subsidy scheme and carving of a Special Tea Term Loan package. One of the most important initiatives taken by the Government in the small sector has been the quality upgradation program, which was launched in South India in July 2000 and is continuing successfully so far.

The Tea Board has also followed it up by launching a full-fledged scheme for quality upgradation and product diversification, aimed at modernizing the tea factories. The measures taken not only seek to alleviate the income related problems of the small growers, but also recognize the inherent advantages and immense potential of the small grower sector in driving Indian tea exports.

Though in the last few months, there has been a recovery in the prices of tea and exports have also started looking up, it is now evident, that with the emerging trends in the globalized economy, markets can no longer be protected. The Indian tea industry, would have to gear itself up to counter the new forces unleashed by globalization.

Courtesy: PIB Features

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Tata Tea's Tea drive

Bangalore : In an attempt to woo back the growing breed of youngsters who are turning to coffee, Tata Tea is launching a nationwide 360 degree re-branding campaign.

The campaign will focus on the demographically young crowd and also focus on a key social message. “We are trying to show tea as a youth drink not just for people who are demographically young but also for people who aspire to remain young. The demographically young account for 40% of the population right now,” said Sangeeta Talwar, executive director, marketing , Tata Tea.

“Our last campaign with Sania Mirza brought about an emotional connect with the brand. We are moving one step forward and bringing in awareness of social causes. The brand is now wearing the mantle of social responsibility,” she added.

Apart from 10-second commercials across TV channels on social issues like water, responsibility of cops, role of politicians and women in sports, the company also plans to start a website. “We are launching a website, jagoindia.org, that will allow young people to chat about social issues . Through this forum , they can discuss relevant social issues,” she said.

With the tag line, Har subah sirf utho math... Jago re, the company is also focusing on retail points, multiplexes and shopping malls to increase awareness. “While it is a nationwide campaign , we are focusing on 8-10 cities with all our campaign,” said Ms Talwar. “While tea has 91% penetration in the country, in the case of coffee width of penetration has increased but not the depth,” she added.

Source: The Economic Times

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Indian tea exports to Russia increases

KOLKATA , India (Reuters) - India expects to boost tea exports to Russia by a quarter in 2007 as it battles stiff competition in other markets such as Britain and Germany, the head of an industry body said on Monday.

Basudeb Banerjee, chairman of state-run Tea Board, said exports to Russia were expected to reach 41.25 million kg this year, up from 33 million kg in 2006.

Sales to Russia in the first half rose 22 percent from a year earlier to 18 million kg, he said.

"The rising exports to Russia are a very good sign for us," Banerjee told Reuters in an interview, adding India had stepped up the production of orthodox tea the Russians favour.

India, the world's largest tea producer after China, has been looking to step up exports after sales were hit in the first half due to a rupee that has risen more than 12 percent against the dollar this year and stiff competition from rivals such as Kenya.

Russia, a tea-drinking country that consumes about 170,000 tonnes a year, was India's main export market before 2001 but sales dropped to about 30,000 tonnes in 2006 from 113,000 tonnes in 2000 as Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Kenya and Vietnam increased their market share.

Total exports from India during the first half were down 19.3 percent at 86.03 million kg from 106.6 million kg in the year earlier period, Tea Board officials said, due to the stronger rupee and tough market conditions in Germany, Britain and Iraq.

"Sales are picking up now and we are hopeful that exports will catch up in the next few months," Banerjee said.

Exports rose 6.9 percent in August to 17 million kg from 15.9 million kg a year earlier, the Tea Board said.

India was also pursuing new markets such as Egypt and Australia, Banerjee said.

However, sales to Iraq, a traditional buyer, slumped to 3 million kg during January to June from 23 million kg in the same period last year as the war-torn country was unable to meet payments, officials said.

India's tea production this year has been hit by bad weather, with the output during January to August easing to 576 million kg from 582 million kg a year earlier, they said.

Source: Reuters, India

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Lower tea volume on offer at Coonoor sale

Coonoor : An analysis of the catalog's of various brokers indicates that a volume of 11.71 lakh kg has been offered for sale this week at the auctions of the Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA).

This is nearly 30,000 kg lower than the volume offered last week. But, it is almost 2.57 lakh kg more than the volume offered this time last year. Of the 11.71 lakh kg, 8.32 lakh kg belong to the leaf grades and 3.39 lakh kg, dust grades. Again, as much as 11.05 lakh kg belong to CTC variety and only 0.66 lakh kg, orthodox variety.

Orthodox share
The proportion of orthodox continues to be low in both the leaf and dust grades. In the leaf counter, only 0.22 lakh kg belong to the orthodox while 8.10 lakh kg, CTC. Among the dusts, only 0.44 lakh kg belong to the orthodox while 2.95 lakh kg, CTC.

Around 9.67 lakh kg is fresh tea. The balance comes from the volume remaining unsold in the previous auctions.

With exporters taking a subdued approach, producers are keeping their fingers crossed on the volume that could be sold at fair prices, the auctioneer said.

Source: Sify

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Weather played foul on Assam tea and Kerala tea production

Chennai : Adverse weather conditions in Assam and Kerala have cast a negative effect on tea production so far this year, while exports tended to look up in August.

Tea production during January-August this year has been estimated at 576.1 million kg (mkg) against 582.3 mkg during the same period last year. The crop has declined mainly in Kerala, where a prolonged dry spell until June affected the crop.

In fact, the dry spell has hit other plantation crops such as pepper and cardamom also. Among all the tea-growing States, Kerala has accounted for the major decline and it is the only State in the South to witness a fall. Production in Tamil Nadu witnessed a marginal rise, while it was flat in Karnataka.

On the other hand, production in Assam has slipped by four mkg this year, with August registering a 1.5 mkg fall. In Assam, it was heavy monsoon spell that affected the crop.

Heavy rainfall in West Bengal during August also resulted in production being adversely affected. In Bengal, the output in August declined four mkg but overall, it is up 2.4 mkg.

Exports, which have been witnessing a decline this year barring March and April, gained in August, though marginally by 1.15 mkg to 17.06.

Overall for the year, it is estimated to have declined by 19.41 mkg at 103.90 mkg.

Lack of orders from Iraq, a major buyer last year, and Pakistan, which has tended to buy more from India in the last two years, has been the main reason for lacklustre performance.

The other reason for export slipping is that Kenya, whose crop was hit by drought last year, is witnessing an improvement in production and consequently, its shipments have turned competitive in the global market.

Source: The Hindu

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Mixed tea prices at Coimbatore

Coimbatore : The prices of Orthodox leaf teas moved up marginally while that of others ruled lower by Re. 1 to Rs. 2 per kg in the Coimbatore auction held last week, trade sources Tuesday said.

With shippers to the CIS countries operating on orthodox leaf grade selectively, well-made Nilgiris clean larger teas and brokens quoted firm to occasionally dearer by Re. 1 to Rs. 1.50, while other grades eased by Re. 1 to Rs. 2 per kg.

Brighter liquoring CTC leaf met with some demand, but was easier by Re. 1, whereas medium and plainer brokens saw less demand and tended easier by Re. 1 to Rs. 2.

In the dust category, orthodox quoted Rs. 1 down, while CTC selected high priced propular marks were barely steady and others lower Re. 1 to Rs. 1.50 with some withdrawals, especially browner leaf appearance teas, the sources said.

Orthodox high grown brokens quoted Rs. 55 to Rs. 77, while good CTC brokens Rs. 42 to Rs. 50, fannings Rs. 43 to Rs. 50, medium brokens Rs. 36 to Rs. 40 and fannings Rs. 36 to Rs. 39 per kg.

Best CTC dust quoted Rs. 54 to Rs. 65, good Rs. 44 to Rs. 53, medium Rs. 36 to Rs. 42 and medium orthodox dust Rs. 30 to Rs. 42. Of the total offerings of 5.54 lakh kgs, dust comprised 3.63 lakh kgs, the sources said.

Source: PTI

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Steady trend at Kochi tea sale

Kochi : Arrivals to the Kochi tea auction was lower at 9.81 lakh kg of dust and 3.18 lakh kg of leaf this week. Best quality and popular CTC varieties remained barely steady. Good liquoring CTC varieties tended to be dearer while poorer quality CTC tended to ease. Orthodox dust high grown remained steady and medium orthodox barely held their price.

Good liquoring CTCs witnessed fair demand from blenders and the loose tea trade. Exporters were active on some select grades.

Best CTC varieties quoted Rs 65-75, medium CTC fetched Rs 50-58 while below medium ranged at Rs 30-35. High grown BOPD fetched Rs 100, medium BOPD quoted Rs 40 and secondaries were at Rs 27-32.

Leaf Sale
Despite the good general demand high grown orthodox bolder brokens and primaries just remained steady. Whole leaf grades were irregular. Medium orthodox grades were steady. Poor orthodox grades witnessed less demand and tended to quote lower. Good liquoring CTC were steady and sometimes dearer. Other CTC varieties tended to ease. Orthodox grades witnessed good export enquiry.

Best Nilgiri varieties quoted Rs 82-97, medium orthodox was at Rs 44-72 and plain orthodox fetched Rs 40-41. Best CTC leaf was at Rs 47-58 while medium CTC leaf ranged at Rs 40-45.

Top Prices
Kodanad BOPD fetched the to price in the dust segment at Rs 100 followed by Pasuparai SFD at Rs 78, Chinnar SFD at Rs 77 and Pasuparai/Monica SFD at Rs 76. In the leaf category Sutton GFOP quoted the top price at Rs 130, followed by Chamraj FOP at Rs 129, Craigmore FOP at Rs 126 and Craigmore FP at Rs 126.

Source: Sify

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Flood hits Assam tea gardens

India's tea production has been hit with heavy floods in the northeastern state of Assam inundating plantations and rampant pests eating away the crop in some areas, officials said.

'Floods have had an impact in some areas where plucking was suspended for sometime with plantations under water, besides erosion hitting a number of gardens,' Dhiraj Kakati, secretary of the Assam branch of the Indian Tea Association, told IANS.

According to estimates, there is a production loss of about 4 million kg of tea until August compared to the corresponding period last year, the official said.

India is currently the world's largest tea producer after China with a record crop of 955 million kg last year, Assam accounting for about 55 percent of the total produce.

At least 70 plantations of Assam's 800-odd gardens have come under floodwaters.

Three waves of flooding since July left over 100 people dead and nearly 12 million people displaced in 25 of Assam's 27 districts. The worst hit districts Are Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Dhubri, Morigaon, Barpeta, Lakhimpur, and Nalbari.

Close to 10,000 villages in an area of 825,000 hectares were affected by the raging floods that cut a swath across the state.

'Some of the factories were hit by the floods forcing the managements in those plantations to shut down operations,' said K. Sharma, a senior planter.

Adding to the woes of the cash-strapped tea industry are rampant pests that are eating away tea crops. A tea mosquito called helopeltis has attacked some 100 plantations in various parts of Assam.

'We saw a sudden outbreak of blisters in some plantations and have been battling the helopeltis outbreak ever since,' Sharma said.

'This time too, like in the past, there have been seasonal pest attacks in certain areas although the problem is not widespread,' Kakati said.

According to tea growers, the bugs tend to attack plantations when the young leaves brown.

The Indian tea industry had projected an estimated production of about 1,000 million kg this year.

'There is still time to make up the loss in production and it would all depend on the rainfall we get in the next few months,' Kakati said.

India's $1.5 billion tea industry was facing the worst crisis in the past century with prices dropping in the weekly auctions, besides facing a slump in export figures,

'Prices at the auctions are lower by about Rs.1.50 per kg compared to corresponding figures last year. Exports are also down by about 10 million kg in the same period (January to August),' the tea official said.

India exported 200 million kg last year.

The slump in prices and exports was largely attributed a glut in the world tea market.

Source: India PRwire

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Indian teas to recapture Russian market

Coimbatore : Indian teas are set to recapture the Russian market, the Tea Board Chairman, Basudeb Banerjee, said here on Friday.

He was in the city in connection with the 25th Annual General Meeting of the Tea Trade Association of Coimbatore.

Recalling his recent visit to Russia and the discussions he had with the Russian Agriculture Ministry and the trade associations there, Banerjee said, “We will soon be able to restore the No.1 position.”

“The board has signed an agreement for joint promotion of Indian tea in Russia. Under this agreement, at least 75 per cent of the packaged teas should be of Indian origin. Russia is proposing to pass a law on these lines and this is expected to be in place next year.”

The Russian offtake has, in the meanwhile, improved considerably for the orthodox and quality CTC grades of tea during the current year.

Asked when it would touch 100 million kg, Banerjee said, “We are not looking at volumes, but in supplying quality teas, as quality appears to be the prime concern out there.” The board would encourage marketing of packaged teas, he added.

While the Russian offtake showed signs of improvement, he admitted to the declining trend in exports to Iraq. “It has been a difficult market and we have encountered payment problems.”

Tea exports to Pakistan have also slipped during the current year, but the country has managed to overcome the mental block about importing teas from India. There is a lot of pent up demand in Karachi and the North West Frontier region.

Reverting to the domestic scenario, he said, “There is a marginal improvement in the per capita consumption (to 3-plus per cent), but the poor consumption in tea-producing regions of Assam and West Bengal is a matter of concern.”

The board has proposed to launch an ‘Iced’ tea campaign soon to trigger consumption.

Banerjee said the new electronic auction system would be introduced in a year’s time.

The consultative committee comprising a technical expert, broker, buyer, vendor and board representative are expected to meet in November for working out the strategy.

The TTAC Chairman, C. Sreedharan, while expressing concern about the poor performance on the export front attributed it to the change in taxation (VAT), appreciating rupee, non-availability of adequate quantities at auctions and difficulties encountered by exporters in realising payments from overseas buyers.

Source: Sify

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A positive welcome into China tea market

Beijing : China has offered a red carpet welcome to Indian tea majors, including Tata Tea, to substantially increase their market presence and investment in the world's most populous nation and break the near monopoly of multinationals like Unilever.

"We welcome more Indian tea companies to China and are willing to offer all assistance to expand their presence in the country's growing tea market," Deputy Executive Director of China Tea Expo (CTE), Wang Tong said.

Tata Tea's foray into China is a good move by the Indian tea giant, Wang said, hoping that more Indian companies would follow suit and explore mutually beneficial business relationship in the country with Chinese tea companies.

In May, Tata Tea signed a joint venture agreement with Zhejiang Tea Import & Export in east China's Zhejiang Province, taking a major step in penetrating the Chinese market.

The joint venture plans to manufacture and market of green tea polyphenols, other green tea extracts, cold and hot water soluble instant tea, liquid tea concentrates and other value added tea beverage products.

Welcoming more Indian participation at the upcoming China Tea Expo 2007 to be held here from October 14 to 17, Wang said the exhibition would be a good opportunity for the Indian tea industry and exporters to meet with their Chinese counterparts and exchange views.

"With the standard of living of Chinese people steadily improving, their tastes are also changing fast," Wang said, noting that black tea is gaining popularity in China which was earlier dominated by locally produced green tea.

According to some estimate, Chinese consume 700,000 tonnes of tea per year.

Wang noted that multinational Unilever, which owns the Lipton brand has been enjoying huge success in China all these years, nearly monopolising the Chinese black tea market.

Unilever has also acquired some tea estates in east China's Anhui Province in an effort to further expand its tea production base, he said.

"If the Indian tea companies, with their exquisite variety of black tea, including Darjeeling tea, enter the Chinese market, I am sure they will also enjoy a good market share," Wang said.

However, he lamented that an experiment done by China Tea Company Limited, the biggest local player, in 2006 to market Indian black tea in China did not succeed.

At the same time, Wang, also General Manager of the state-run China National Native Produce and Animal By-products Import and Export Corporation, noted that the tea industries of China and India lacked proper communication channels to exchange views about market conditions and matters of mutual interest.

Wang said CTE plans to lead a high-level delegation of Chinese tea industry to India in 2008 to explore opportunities for mutually-beneficial cooperation, including finding market for green tea in India.

Source: The Economic Times

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Dutch film to promote Indian tea

A Dutch filmmaker is making a documentary on tea production in north Bengal to help promote Indian tea in the Netherlands and other European Union countries.

“Although the annual per capita consumption of tea in the Netherlands is 3kg (in India it is 750gm), Indian tea has a comparatively small share in it,” said Aad Van Helden, who was here till last week to shoot the documentary. “We intend to promote Indian tea in our country and also in some other European Union nations.”

Aad Van is here as a representative of Solidaritat, a Dutch NGO that has worked in countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa to promote, and sometimes highlight the problems of, plantation crops like banana and coffee.

For the Indian project, Solidaritat has tied up with the Institute of Plantation, Agriculture and Rural Workers (IPARW), a Jalpaiguri-based NGO working for sustainable livelihood of labourers engaged in these areas.

Aad Van’s wife Mieneke is a volunteer of Solidaritat and she came with him to Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri to shoot the 20-minute documentary. “They had been working since September 29 and finished their work on Friday,” said Samir Roy of the IPARW. North Bengal was the only tea producing area in India that the Dutch couple visited, Roy added.

“The target audience of the film will be the common people of India and the European Union, business houses, consumer groups, government officials, small producers and workers,” Roy added.

In course of their nine-day visit, Aad Van and Mieneke interviewed about 40-50 stakeholders of the Indian tea industry, including planters, workers, managing directors of big tea houses and trade union leaders.

“We tried to know from the stakeholders their take on the prospects of Indian tea in the international market. We also asked them about the present situation of tea industry and how they are trying solve the problems that are scourging it,” Aad Van said.

On Saturday, the husband and wife also interviewed Union minister of state for commerce and industry Jairam Ramesh, who arrived in the region primarily to pursue the Centre’s action plan regarding closed tea gardens.

Source: The Telegraph

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Tax hike, a big burden on the tea industry

Guwahati/Silchar : Usually preoccupied with getting bonus payments over with at this time of the year, Assam’s tea industry has found one more reason to be hassled this season.

The cabinet’s decision to hike land revenue by 80 per cent — up from Rs 12 to Rs 22 per bigha in the Brahmaputra Valley and from Rs 9 to Rs 16 in the Barak Valley — has had almost all associations of the industry crying foul. If the hike isn’t annoying enough for an industry looking for relief rather than pain, the government has pegged the rates with retrospective effect from June 2003.

The chairman of the Assam Tea Planters’ Association (ATPA), Raj Baruah, said the proportion of the hike was absurd and inopportune. “This hike is a big burden on the industry. Many gardens will have no option but to close down.”

The ATPA chief said the industry was already burdened by “mammoth social costs” that the government was loath to reduce.

Baruah’s counterpart in the North East Tea Association, Manoj Jalan, described the hike in land revenue as one of the biggest blows to the crisis-ridden tea industry in recent times. “We will fight against the move. We are not in a position to take such a big burden at this time.”

Jalan said the cabinet’s decision was all the more unfair because governments in other tea-growing states were trying to help the industry come out of a decade-long recession. West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, he pointed out, had waived the cess on green leaf recently. “But despite repeated appeals, our government has done nothing and, now, this added burden.”

The secretary of the Assam Branch of Indian Tea Association, Dhiraj Kakoti, said the industry would not take it lying down. “The government cannot take a unilateral decision. The industry should have been consulted on the issue.”

Tea associations intend to get together in this “hour of crisis” and devise a strategy to pressure the government into modifying, if not reversing, the decision.

Government spokesman Himanta Biswa Sarma argued that the hike was “modest” and “mutually agreed upon” during meetings with the Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA).

Associations representing plantations in Assam, however, denied that the government ever held discussions with the CCPA on this issue.

Source: The Telegraph

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