The Hindu Business Line : Continuation of tax waiver sought for Bengal tea industry

Kolkata, Jan. 11 The Tea Association of India (TAI) has appealed to the West Bengal Government not to do away with the exemption granted by it to the State’s tea industry in regard to payment of Education and Rural Employment Cess. The exemption, which became effective from April 2004 will be in force till March 31, 2009.

Addressing the 38th annual general meeting of the North Bengal branch of TAI at Jalpaiguri in North Bengal on Saturday, the President of TAI, Mr Shasank Prashad, also urged the State Government to waive the amount outstanding in the principal amount of cess and the arrear interest thereupon.

The arrear dues towards principal amount of cess and interest related to the period from 2000-01 to 2003-04 when most of the tea gardens in Dooars and Terai regions of the State could not even recover their cost of production, he said. The waiver, if granted, would therefore help the gardens come out of their past liabilities, he added.

The West Bengal Government had also granted waiver of agriculture income-tax for a period of three years till March 31, 2009. He prayed to the Government for continuation of the waiver considering the plight of the State’s tea industry.

The medium and small tea companies of North Bengal, as Mr Prashad pointed out, did not benefit much from the improvement in tea prices in 2008, largely due to the drop in crop, abnormal increases in the costs of all inputs, including wages and the higher cost of borrowing, a consequence of the prevailing liquidity crisis.

Moreover, medium and small tea gardens were yet to come out of their past liabilities towards bank loans, statutory dues of employees’ Provident Fund and various other obligations. He apprehended that the year 2009 might prove to be even more difficult, adversely affecting the tea prices.

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