Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Oct 29, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Oct 29, 2005 |
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Government
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Agricultural Policy Agri-Biz & Commodities - Tea Centre may set up Rs 400-cr special fund for tea industry — Kamal Nath says it's only a one-off package Our Bureau
The Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Mr Kamal Nath, arriving at the 40th annual general meeting of the Tea Association of India in Kolkata on Friday. - A. Roy Chowdhury
Kolkata , Oct. 28 THE Union Government may finally set up the much talked about Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF) in 2-3 months but the corpus has been reduced from Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 400 crore. This was announced by Mr Kamal Nath, Union Commerce and Industry Minister, here today while talking to reporters after addressing the members of the Tea Association of India (TAI) at their 40th annual general meeting. According to the Minister, several rounds of discussions have been held with all the governmental agencies, including the Prime Minister, and he assured that the government was making all attempts to establish the fund. "However, this is just a one-off package. Do not expect such packages every now and then. The global scenario of the plantation sector is changing and past is no longer the model for the future," he told the TAI members. Tea companies can avail themselves of financial support from the SPTF for replantation and rejuvenation of tea bushes. In the domestic tea sector, almost two lakh hectares have been identified as low yielding area. When asked whether the Union Government was considering any proposal to reduce the burden of social cost of the tea plantation sector, the Minister said it could be linked with the SPTF. On Pak imports: In his opening address, Mr Suresh Bansal, the outgoing president of TAI, urged the Minister to initiate a dialogue with the Pakistani Government for allowing at least 10 million kg duty-free imports of Indian teas. Pakistan consumes more than 120 million kg of CTC tea but it is mostly imported from Kenya. India and Pakistan have decided to allow six items to be exported through land border. TAI urged the minister to include tea in this list. Mr Kamal Nath accepted the proposal and said the matter would be raised with the Pakistani authorities in the next round of SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement) meeting. The Minister expressed concern over the deteriorating quality of Indian teas and the growing age of the factories. "Coarse plucking and improper processing in some factories stand in the way of quality production and higher price realisation. There is a need for renovation and innovation in tea manufacturing sector," he said. According to Mr Bansal, global production of tea has touched an all-time high of 3,150 million kg in 2004 but Indian production dropped by 37 million kg and ended at 820 million kg. Indian tea exports, he said, has continued to suffer. During January-August 2005, exports have dropped to 103 million kg as against 121 million kg in the corresponding period of 2004.
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