There is the opportunity for the tea companies of the country to get rid of ageing and hardly producing tea bushes in their estates to boost the productivity and quality of tea output. Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh today launched the Rs 4,760 crore Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF) to be spent over the next 15 years in replanting and rejuvenating over 50-year-old tea bushes in 100 tea estates that accounts for 80 per cent of the country’s total tea production.

The STPF will target 2 lakh hectares out of total 5 lakh hectares under tea plantation in the country. Launching the STPF in presence of bigwigs of tea industry, chairman of Indian Tea Board, Basudeb Banerjee, Ramesh said: “We hope that at the end of 15 years when the STPF will be completely utilised, the current average tea productivity 1.7 tons per hectare will increased to 2.3 tons per hectare.” The STPF is a composition of 25 per cent subsidy provided by the Government of India, 25 per cent contribution from beneficiary tea estates and 50 per cent soft loans from banks and other financial institutions.

The 50 per cent of beneficiaries will be from Assam where there are over 800 tea estates, including some very old ones set up in British Era. Rest of the beneficiaries will be from West Bengal (25 per cent) and Tamil Nadu-Kerala (25 per cent).

The STPF was launched with signing of loan agreement between the Tea Board and 82 tea gardens from Assam owned by 24 different companies. The total amount involved is Rs 48 crore including Rs 12 crore from beneficiaries, Rs 12 crore from Government of India and Rs 24 crore soft loan from banks and other financial institutions.

The STPF fund is provided to replant ageing tea bushes in tea estates located in plain areas and rejuvenation of old tea bushes located in hilly tea growing regions. The Union minister informed that     the ministry will soon launch similar special purpose fund for the benefit of growers of coffee, rubber, pepper, cardamom, cashew and cocoa in       the country.

Meanwhile, in another related development, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh has launched a new initiative of the Spices Board in the backward Karbi Anglong district of Assam to start the organic cultivation of turmeric, ginger and chilli on a large-scale and promote processing and export as well. The minister announced that two companies have been set up as producers’ companies under Section 581 of the Companies Act, 1956, Coinonya Farms Producers Company Limited for turmeric and Karbi Farms Producer Company Limited for ginger and chilli for this purpose.

Producers’ Companies is a new provision in the Companies Act which gives primary producers’ the flexibility to organise themselves as a normal company but on the basis of a one man-one vote principle which is the essence of a cooperative institution. Producers’ company combines the economic advantage of a corporate entity with the social benefits of a cooperative. The two companies are located in Paroli and Rongmanpi in the Hamren sub-division of Karbi Anglong district. Each company has a full-time chairman and a managing director. The Spices Board owns 49 per cent of each company and its equity stake is Rs 1 crore in each company. Local tribal farmers, mostly small and marginal, traditionally practicing jhum cultivation own 51 per cent in each company. Land owned by these farmers has been transferred to these two companies as their contribution to equity.

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