Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb suggested bringing the private tea estates into the cooperative framework for rejuvenating the industry and enhance tea production in the state while reviewing the activities of the Tripura Tea Promotion Board yesterday.
Deb said with the growing demand for estate-grown tea in the national and international market, the state government has emphasised increasing the area of cultivation and augmentation of tea production without compromising the quality, which will pay a long term dividend to the state.
He said the state-managed tea estates have been moving towards a profitable unit but, the government thought to provide necessary assistance to the private estates, which are facing loss or having minimal productivity and added, “The concerned officials to assess the condition of the private tea gardens and to make an action plan for rejuvenating them by forming a cooperative with all those estates.”
He reiterated that after rubber, tea is an organised and oldest industry in Tripura that ranks 6th in the country. The 54 tea gardens and 2866 small tea growers have been producing green tea leaves with 9048 workers and meantime, Tripura tea has received huge appreciation for its quality at the international level. Besides increasing the export of tea, the Tripura government targeted to boost the industry at a larger scale, the Chief Minister stated.
According to the report, there are 24 tea processing units in the state but green tea is being made in three factories in the state. Tripura Tea Development Corporation has been packaging local tea in the brand of Tripureswari Tea, which is being sold at fair price shops along with local markets.
Apart from this, plans are to set up ‘Tea Museum’ in Durgabari estate near Agartala and initiative has been taken to set up quality tourist spots in tea gardens to attract tourists and expand tea tourism, Deb added.
