THE Tea Board is making all out efforts to revive the tea industry from the recent slump. Subsidy will be provided for ‘orthodox tea’ production since there is an increasing global demand for the same. Subsidy will also be provided to the loss making or sick tea gardens.

The Tea Board will initiate promotion of tea through various companies. Top names are to be roped in to act as brand ambassadors for tea. Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has agreed to become a brand ambassador. Assistance to the Tea Research Association at Jorhat will be increased from 49 per cent to 80 per cent thereby reducing its dependence on number of gardens. More new schemes will be introduced in near future. It is also being considered to increase the network of tea Board in the North-East by introducing some more regional offices in Assam and other states of the region. The Centre has also announced price subsidy for small growers and the modalities are being finalised.

Price sharing between growers and manufacturers of 60:40 ratio will also be effective from this month. As a result, the organised sector and the small growers have to unite to revive the tea industry. For quality upgradation, the Tea Board has initiated a number of schemes for training in collaboration with local NGOs and Assam Agricultural University.

Assam’s area under tea is more than 2.7 lakh hectors, which is more than half of the entire area under tea production in the country. Assam itself produces more than 50 per cent of India’s tea. In order to help the small growers to overcome their financial crisis during recession, a price stabilisation fund scheme has been  introduced. The Tea Board will also stress on activities like rejuvenation and replantation on a regular basis along with the replacement of worn out machineries with new ones. Meanwhile, Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC), which is the largest of its kind in the country, has decided to open a Tea Boutique within the GTAC to lure more people.

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