The Hindu Business Line : Meet soon on rehab plan for closed tea gardens

Kolkata, July 6 The Tea Board will shortly hold meetings of the owners of the closed tea gardens and their bankers to discuss the rehabilitation package for closed tea gardens during the 11th Plan. The package was approved by the Commerce Ministry about a week ago.

The first meeting will be held here on July 7 with the owners of the closed gardens in West Bengal and Assam, to be followed by another meeting on July 12 at Kochi with those in South India. The Tea Board Chairman will preside over the meetings. The total number of closed tea gardens is 33 — 17 in Kerala, 14 in West Bengal and two in Assam.

The owners of the closed tea gardens, keen to availthemselves of the benefits under the rehabilitation package, have to furnish undertakings, Expressions of Interest, to the Chairman of the Tea Board confirming their commitments to reopen the gardens.

“They must regularise their bank accounts first,” the sources observe. “One month’s time will be given to them to give firm indication of reopening the tea gardens”.

The components of the scheme, prepared by Tea Board on the basis of the rehabilitation package approved by the Commerce Ministry, include restructuring of existing banks loans, waiver of Tea Board loans, damages on the Employees’ Provident Fund, extension of facility of term loan for gardens improvement, extension of facility under Quality Upgradation and Product Diversification Scheme and sanction of working capital and the grant of interest subsidy on the loans.