Commerce deptt favours 75% FDI in tea

new delhi: in a bid to give a boost to the tea industry, the government is working out a comprehensive package which includes permission for 75 per cent fdi in tea plantations. the plans include promotion of 'indian tea' brand, rating of exporters and assistance to the industry in setting up a country-wide information technology it backbone for better planning. a medium-term export strategy has been worked out and the target is to increase exports by rs 1,200 crore or 80 million kg in five years, according to mr l v saptharishi, additional secretary in the commerce department. the current level of exports stands at 190 million kg of tea, valued at rs 1,800 crore. the medium-term strategy has set a target of 270 million kg, valued at rs 3,000 crore by 2007. the commerce department has recommended that fdi of up to 75 per cent be allowed in tea plantations, he said. however, the final decision on the issue has not been taken by the government yet. the recommendation is only for tea plantations and it does not cover other plantation crops like coffee or rubber, mr saptharishi added. the commerce department is not in favour of fdi inflows into other plantation sectors since most of the stakeholders are from the small-scale sector. the medium-term strategy for increasing export of tea would focus on strong it backbone since this will provide greater transparency and dissemination of price as well as other market-related information. the booster plan has been worked on the basis on a study done by accenture. while the commerce department and the tea board would be key players in implementing the strategy, a 21-member steering committee has been formed to involve industry leaders. the panel would be headed by tea board chairman n k das. an apex committee headed by commerce secretary d chatterjee would review the implementation. one of the key thrusts of the new strategy would be to improve value-addition and exploit nice segment opportunities like promotion of organic tea. a comprehensive product quality upgradation programme would also be part of the new strategy, mr saptharishi said. the basic thrust is to develop outward-looking strategies for production as well as marketing. the booster programme is necessary now since competition is intense in the global market. therefore, focused efforts would be made to promote india tea as a common brand and take indian tea to non-traditional markets. with a heavy focus on the domestic market and a few traditional markets like russia, the indian industry was doing fine till 1998. the boom which lasted for almost 15 years ended in 1998 and the current market situation has led to retrospection. from being the numero uno in the tea export market, india has now slid to the fourth position. therefore, the medium-term strategy, code-named operation vijay, envisages rating of exporters and reliability management programmes. we will be diversifying into new markets in like the uae, saudi arabia, syria and chile, mr das said.

Commerce deptt favours 75% FDI in tea

In a bid to give a boost to the tea industry, the government is working out a comprehensive package which includes permission for 75 per cent FDI in tea plantations.

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