The Hindu Business Line : Subsidy: CTC tea producers seek level field

Coonoor, Dec. 28 The Nilgiri Bought-Leaf Tea Manufactures’ Association has appealed to the Commerce Ministry to treat manufacturers of CTC teas on par with those of orthodox teas in respect of subsidy.

“Orthodox tea producers get a subsidy as high as Rs 5/kg, but this is denied to CTC tea producers. This is discriminatory. CTC producers are rendered uncompetitive compared to orthodox producers when competing to procure the raw material, green leaf, in the same area,” Mr Sunil Goyal, President, Nilgiri Bought-Leaf Tea Manufactures’ Association, told Business Line.

Pointing out that nearly 80 per cent of Indian production is consumed within the country, he said that almost the whole of domestic consumption is of CTC variety and the domestic market paid the highest price for quality teas, unmatched anywhere else.

“Indians are always loyal to CTC teas. The consumer-driven market should be preferred to the command-driven market,” he said.

Local flavour

“Presently, when export-dependent industries are suffering from a global meltdown, we are making a grave mistake by promoting orthodox tea production to satisfy global demand at the expense of domestic consumers,” Mr Goyal said.

“Many Nilgiri teas are fetching South India’s highest price due to top quality standards. So, we have represented to Union Minister of State for Commerce and Power, Mr Jairam Ramesh, for an urgent amendment to place CTC producers on par with other producers,” he said.

More Stories on : Tea

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Centre dithers over MSP for wheat, rapeseed-mustard

Chill in north as Bay shows signs of warming up

Higher prices

Subsidy: CTC tea producers seek level field

Comex gold to consolidate, rise

Gold poised to scale higher levels next year

Pepper likely to recover in early Jan