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Over 60,000 small growers of tea in the Nilgiris district are worried as their earnings are falling drastically. The Tea Board has reduced the average price to be paid by factories to small growers for purchase of their green leaf in July to ₹12 a kg from ₹14 in June.
“This is hardly sufficient for us to make both ends meet. This is as much as ₹5 less per kg compared to the earlier months of this year,” H Thiagarajan, President, The Nilgiris Small Tea Growers’ Association, told BusinessLine.
“The post-GST regime is causing concern because it has begun with the Tea Board reducing the payment to us by two rupees. It is an acknowledgment by the Board that prices obtained by tea factories using our green leaf are falling in the auctions,” said Thiagarajan, “Instead of reducing the prices for the growers, the Tea Board must take action to increase the price for factories at the auctions.”
“We understand that in the GST regime, some corporates are not bidding. Small buyers have enough stock. So, we fear the competitive spirit will be lost at auctions and prices will crash further,” he said.
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