By Firstdespatch Desk Dec 06, 2022
Agartala, Dec 06 (FD) When the production of tea in Tripura is age old and began, when the Britishers started planting tea in India, its marketing from the state had always remained a tough task.
Tripura Tea Development Corporation Ltd has signed an agreement with an agricultural marketing entity of the north-east region to promote its ‘Tripureswari’ tea brand, an official said on Monday.
TTDCL has signed an agreement with North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (Neramac) to sell its tea products from three outlets of the latter in Tripura capital Agartala, he said.
“Initially, Neramac will sell Tripureswari tea in its three outlets in Tripura and later, the products will be made available outside the state,” TTDCL Chairman Santosh Saha said.
He said TTDCL has an “adequate amount of finished tea” in the store, and “therefore, there will be no shortage for supplying Tripureswari tea to Neramac”.
Currently, the state-run tea development entity has been focusing on quality for better marketing, Saha said, adding that a new manufacturing plant will be set up in North Tripura’s Machmara tea estate in the next 12 months.
“The foundation stone for setting up the new tea processing plant will be laid this month. The estimated cost of the project will be around Rs 3.5 crore. Tripura Industrial Development Corporation Ltd has been awarded the contract for construction of the facility,” he said.
According to Saha, the Tribal Welfare department has already sanctioned Rs1 crore to implement the new project, while remaining fund will be “managed through various sources”.
At present, the TTDCL supplies tea leaves from the Machmara garden to Kailashahar in Unakoti district for sale at a nominal price.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha recently said the state government is eager to export tea to neighbouring Bangladesh and efforts are already afoot in that direction.
Besides, the state in collaboration with pertinent agencies is also contemplating setting up a tea auction centre here, Saha added.
In the last few years, Tripura tea has gained substantial popularity in the domestic market, especially after the state-produced tea was made available at subsidised prices in fair-price shops.
Speaking at the official launching programme of Tripureswari Premium tea, a brand owned by Tripura Tea Development Corporation, the chief minister said, “The state government has initiated multi-pronged efforts to ensure that the quality of the state’s tea improves and becomes competitive with the national market. The TTDC has done great work in reviving the lacklustre tea industry by resolving long-pending issues in a time-bound manner. Moreover, small tea growers are getting support from the government in the production of the tea.”
Highlighting the impediments related to land, Saha said, “We are already working to resolve the land-related disputes. Hopefully, all the problems faced by the tea growers will be addressed in a short period. Apart from this, enough emphasis is being laid on the modernisation of the existing facilities. Recently, the Central Tea Processing Factory of Durgabari has been completely transformed into a gas-based plant. In Machmara tea garden, a factory will come up soon, and at Panchamnagar a processing unit has already been established.”
Saha said that after 2018, the Tripura tea industry under the leadership of TTDC has witnessed a fillip. “Tripura tea’s history dates back to 1916, but till 2018 there was no logo of the tea. In the last few years, a logo of Tripura tea was designed and came into being. The brand name of Tripureswari tea was also launched by former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb. Installation of packing units in Durgabari are some of the key steps undertaken by the state government to popularise Tripura tea in the domestic markets,” he added.
Discussing the rich history of Tripura tea, Saha said, “In Tripura, tea is grown in over 12,000 hectares of land. There are 54 tea gardens altogether that give an annual production of 9 to 10 lakh kgs of tea. There are 2,800-odd small tea growers who roughly produce 8 to 9 million kgs of green tea. Apart from being the oldest industry, tea is also generating good employment opportunities across the state.” FD JK