The Hindu Business Line : Tea Board sets 200-m kg export target for '06-07

For the current financial year 2006-07, Tea Board has set an export target of 200 million kg, according to Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce.

Addressing a press conference at the Tea Board, Mr Ramesh said that the markets of Pakistan, Iran and Egypt have been identified for special focus during the next one year.

He, however, added that the Government would continue to focus on the traditional Indian tea markets such as Russia, the UK and UAE. In 2005-06, total Indian tea exports were 181 million kg.

Regarding Pakistan, he said, from around nine million kg in 2005-06 it is likely to go up to 20 million kg in the current financial year. However, to achieve that target tea exports through the Wagah border is necessary.

"We have discussed the matter with the Pakistan Commerce Ministry. We said that restriction on the movement of goods violates the spirit of SAFTA. We said such restrictions should be removed soon," Mr Ramesh said.

He also felt that train linkage between southern Pakistan and eastern India is necessary and it would further boost exports.

He, however, urged the total exporting community to get rid of the subsidy culture. "Time has come for the exporters to have market-based approach because subsidies would have to be removed after some time," he said.

The Minister also spoke about the Rs 4,700-crore Special Tea Protection Fund (SPTF). According to him, this fund would substantially help the tea industry in taking building their future.

"The Union Government has made an initial contribution of Rs 100 crore. Rest of the funds is coming from Nabard and other banks. We hope that by November this year we would be able to make the first disbursal," he said.

In this context, he mentioned that several tea companies have failed to make the statutory payments of the workers and their list would be published by Tea Board. These owners would not be eligible to take advantage of the SPTF.

According to the Minister, domestic tea consumption is also growing at a rapid pace of three per cent per annum. This has created several new marketing avenues for the domestic tea sellers.

He felt that the recent advertisement campaigns conducted by the Tea Board have also helped their cause. Tea Board, Mr Ramesh added, would continue to advertise aggressively Indian teas both in domestic and overseas market.

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