The Hindu Business Line : Special tea fund launched; 1,000 gardens to benefit

BREWING HOPES?: The Union Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh, the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the Union Minister for Development of North-Eastern Region, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, in discussion with the Assam Chief Minister, Mr Tarun Gogoi, at the launch of the Special Purpose Tea Fund loan in Guwahati on Monday. - Ritu Raj Konwar

Guwahati June 25 The first round of special purpose tea fund (SPTF) loans to Assam was launched here on Monday with a view to accelerating the pace of replanting and rejuvenation of tea gardens to enhance their productivity.

At a loan agreement signing ceremony for the first lot of 82 applicants between the Tea Board and 24 tea companies involving replantation and rejuvenation of 1,925 hectares of tea with a loan component of Rs 48 crore, the Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh, said though it was an all-India scheme, Assam accounts for 50 per cent of the 1,000 gardens across the country which would qualify for the SPTF loans.

Salient features

Explaining the salient features of the scheme, he said the scheme would be implemented from the current fiscal year till the end of the 11th Plan with a funding pattern of 25 per cent subsidy, 25 per cent promoters' contribution and the balance 50 per cent by way of loans from the banks.

Capital infusion

He said the maximum capital to be raised from the banking sector would be around Rs 1,080 crore for which the required capital infusion from the Government at 12 per cent capital would be Rs 130 crore.

Mr Ramesh said the total corpus under SPTF was Rs 4,760 crore, spread over 15 years and said "that what has been done in the last 30 years by way of rejuvenation programme we are going to do five times more than that amount in the next 15 years."

He said at the end of the 15-year period, the average productivity would go up from 1.7 tonnes to 2.2-2.3 tonnes per hectare. Those who were present on the occasion include the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Mr Montek Singh Ahulwalia, the Union Minister for development of North-Eastern Region, Mr Mani Sankar Aiyar, and the Assam Chief Minister, Mr Tarun Gogoi.

Mr Ahluwalia said the industry should beef up quality and marketing efforts by making due use of the facilities. Later, addressing a news conference, Mr Ramesh dispelled the doubt that SPT loans were not for small growers.

He said since one of the conditions was that the bushes should be 50 years old, many of the small growers would not be eligible for the SPTF. He said the Government was helping small tea growers through self-help groups under which 50 per cent cost of transporting tea leaves from growers to bought-leaf factories would be borne by the Tea Board.

Regn with Tea board

He asked the Assam small tea growers to get themselves registered with the Tea Board. He said the Government would help small tea processing factories.

Two delegations of small-tea growers had been sponsored by the Tea Board to Sri Lanka and Kenya, he said, adding that the Government would make efforts to register Assam orthodox tea for geographical indication (GI).

Mr Ramesh said that SPTF would be extended to other commercial crops covering coffee, cardamom, pepper, coconut, rubber and cashew in another four or five months.

In response to a query, the Tea Board Chairman, Mr Basudev Banerjee, said the Board had outsourced loan appraisal work to SBI Capital and the Tea Board would do "satellite monitoring" of progress being made by the tea gardens availing of the loans under the SPTF.

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