Nath spells out plans for plantation sector
Union commerce minister Kamal Nath on Monday announced major policy initiatives to benefit the 20 million people engaged in India's plantation sector.
By Raghu Krishnan & S Sanandakumar, TNN |
COONOOR: Union commerce minister Kamal Nath on Monday announced major policy initiatives to benefit the 20 million people engaged in India's plantation sector.
Inaugurating the 114th annual conference of the United Plantations Association of Southern India (Upasi), Mr Nath said the Eleventh Plan outlay on the plantation sector would be more than doubled to Rs 3,000 crore from the Tenth Plan allocation of Rs 1,200 crore.
He also announced the setting up of a committee within two weeks to formulate a revival package for India's 127,366 small tea growers, 67,998 of them based in the southern part of the country. For the more savvy planters, he announced the setting up of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) involving all stakeholders, including the commodity boards, to determine whether and how carbon credits could be allocated to India's plantations despite the Kyoto Protocol's denial of such credits to this sector.
Later, speaking to newspersons, Mr Nath said the committee would submit a report spelling out a mechanism to resolve the problem of small tea growers, whose realisations fluctuated widely over different periods. Whether the modality would be a minimum statutory price or creation of common facilities involving a cluster approach would be for the committee to decide, he said. The committee would include officials, representatives of the commodity board and growers.
The minister also clarified that the Orthodox Tea Incentive Scheme would be continued in the Eleventh Plan. On Sunday, the Tea Board chairman had told Upasi that an allocation of Rs 100 crore had been sought for continuing this scheme into the Eleventh Plan. The quantum of grants from the market assistance schemes for different commodities would also be enhanced, Mr Nath said.
While agreeing with the Upasi president's call for a major generic promotion campaign for all plantation commodities, Mr Nath urged the commodity boards and planters' associations to get back to him with specific schemes.
Earlier, Nilgiris MP R Prabhu had asked for a minimum statutory price of Rs 10 per kg for small tea growers. Mr Nath said providing one subsidy after the other was neither an efficient nor a viable solution to the problems of India's plantation sector. However, there was no doubt that the sector needed hand-holding for its rejuvenation through effectively-designed packages, he added.
Asked for his reaction to the Planning Commission's proposal that commodity boards should be taken out of the purview of the commerce ministry and brought under the ministry of agriculture, Mr Nath said: "I have no rigid view on this. The question is how it works best." Asked whether in the wake of the government increasing the DEPB rate to exporters of plantation commodities to offset the impact of the appreciation of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar, the duty drawback rate could also be enhanced, the minister cryptically said that an alternative was being worked out to DEPB. However, he declined to elaborate.
Inaugurating the 114th annual conference of the United Plantations Association of Southern India (Upasi), Mr Nath said the Eleventh Plan outlay on the plantation sector would be more than doubled to Rs 3,000 crore from the Tenth Plan allocation of Rs 1,200 crore.
He also announced the setting up of a committee within two weeks to formulate a revival package for India's 127,366 small tea growers, 67,998 of them based in the southern part of the country. For the more savvy planters, he announced the setting up of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) involving all stakeholders, including the commodity boards, to determine whether and how carbon credits could be allocated to India's plantations despite the Kyoto Protocol's denial of such credits to this sector.
Later, speaking to newspersons, Mr Nath said the committee would submit a report spelling out a mechanism to resolve the problem of small tea growers, whose realisations fluctuated widely over different periods. Whether the modality would be a minimum statutory price or creation of common facilities involving a cluster approach would be for the committee to decide, he said. The committee would include officials, representatives of the commodity board and growers.
The minister also clarified that the Orthodox Tea Incentive Scheme would be continued in the Eleventh Plan. On Sunday, the Tea Board chairman had told Upasi that an allocation of Rs 100 crore had been sought for continuing this scheme into the Eleventh Plan. The quantum of grants from the market assistance schemes for different commodities would also be enhanced, Mr Nath said.
While agreeing with the Upasi president's call for a major generic promotion campaign for all plantation commodities, Mr Nath urged the commodity boards and planters' associations to get back to him with specific schemes.
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Earlier, Nilgiris MP R Prabhu had asked for a minimum statutory price of Rs 10 per kg for small tea growers. Mr Nath said providing one subsidy after the other was neither an efficient nor a viable solution to the problems of India's plantation sector. However, there was no doubt that the sector needed hand-holding for its rejuvenation through effectively-designed packages, he added.
Asked for his reaction to the Planning Commission's proposal that commodity boards should be taken out of the purview of the commerce ministry and brought under the ministry of agriculture, Mr Nath said: "I have no rigid view on this. The question is how it works best." Asked whether in the wake of the government increasing the DEPB rate to exporters of plantation commodities to offset the impact of the appreciation of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar, the duty drawback rate could also be enhanced, the minister cryptically said that an alternative was being worked out to DEPB. However, he declined to elaborate.
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