HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, March 30: Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday attended the ceremonial distribution of financial incentives to around 370 tea gardens under the Assam Tea Industry Special Incentive Schemes 2020 at a function held at Janata Bhawan.
An aggregate of ₹64.05 crore were disbursed to the 370 tea gardens under the Assam Tea Industry Special Incentive Schemes 2020, originally formulated by the government of Assam to mitigate the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the tea industry.
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Speaking at the event, the chief minister said the tea industry was the backbone of the economy of Assam, contributing to nearly 90% of gross export value and providing either direct or indirect employment avenues to more than a million people.
“It is due to the overwhelming effect of the tea industry on the economy of Assam that the state government came up with the Assam Tea Industry Special Incentive Schemes to help the sector absorb some of the shocks of the deleterious impact of Covid-19,” he said.
Elaborating on its components, the chief minister said apart from providing interest subvention of 3% on working capital loans of tea gardens, promotion of production of orthodox tea over traditional crush-tear-curl (CTC) tea has also been accorded due attention.
It is with this aim that under Assam Tea Industry Special Incentive Schemes, a subsidy of ₹10 for per kilogram of orthodox and other special varieties of tea have been incorporated, the chief minister said.
To mark the 200th anniversary of tea production in the State, an additional ₹2 per kilogram of orthodox tea has been fixed for the financial year 2023-24, the chief minister added.
The chief minister exuded confidence that the Assam tea industry would be able to claim its rightful place in the world and domestic tea market in days.
He also highlighted numerous initiatives of the government of Assam aimed at socio-economic empowerment of the tea tribes of the State.
He appealed both the tea estate managements and the labourers to remain committed to each other’s wellbeing, as both parties are in a symbiotic relationship and adverse impact on one leaves a cascading effect on the other.
Assam minister of finance Ajanta Neog, minister of Industries Bimal Bora, minister of tea tribes welfare Sanjay Kumar, principal secretary to chief minister Samir Kumar Sinha, chairman of Indian Tea Association Nayantara Paul Choudhury were also present at the event.
