North East News Agency

Minister of State for Commerce, Jairam Ramesh attended the AGM of Assam Tea Planters Association in Jorhat and visited several plantations during a two- day tour of upper assam. After his tour the Minister briefed the media and stressed on the following points:-

The Tocklai research centre will celebrate its centenary in style in 2011. The minister also visited Tocklai and held discussions with its scientists as well as the Assam Agricultural University and Regional Research Lab. The threee institutes have decided to form a cosortium and take tea research further.

Great importance is being attached to the small tea growers of Assam who account for 25 per cent of Assam tea produce and 14 per cent of all India produce. The Tea Board has been asked to specially focus on small growers. Delegation of small growers of the State would be taken to countries such as  Kenya, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam to enable them to gain first  hand experience. The  tea board will support establishnent of five co-operative tea processing factories. These will be low cost factories (each costing 40 lakhs ). These factories will be maintained entirely by small growers through co-operatives and self help groups. The Ministry of Commerce feels that this is the best way to help the small growers get better prices for their produce.  The Minister also assured that the tea board will soon set up a special directorate for small tea growers. The Minister has also written to the Chief Minister  to grant ownership rights to the small planters to give them better access to bank finance.

 The Ministry of Finance is trying for 100 per cent sale of Assam tea through e-auction by August 2007. A new and effective method of e-auction is being devised for this purpose — the project document of this new method is expected to be on the table by July. Apart from the existing three tea auction centres in eastern india at Kolkata, Siliguri and Guwahati , two new centre will come up soon in Jorhat and Dibrugarh.

 Marketing is being given great stress. In middle of July the chairman, tea board is leaading a team to Pakistan, which is the highest importer of tea. Though Pakistan imported 140 million kg of tea last year, India’s share was only 10 m kg and that too through indirect means. But the Minister  said that there are enough indications that the situation would get better soon.

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