Tea companies evince interest in SPTF

Kolkata, Oct 19: The Tea Board of India has received more than 300 responses for the Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF), launched by the government for reviving the tea sector through replantation.

The Board started inviting the applications for the fund from June, sources said.

The receipt of 300 applications was significant given the fact that there were around 800 tea companies in the organised sector, they said.

Around two lakh hectare is required for replantation at the current rates of Rs 2.16 lakh per hectare.

The corpus of the fund would he around Rs 4,700 crore over 15 years.

The government's contribution would be Rs 100 crore for the year and it would be leveraged over a period of 15 years.

According to sources, the first disbursement under the SPTF is likely to be made in December.

Meanwhile, the industry has been demanding higher subsidies for the fund.

While the Union Commerce Minister has recommended 30 per cent subsidy, the Expenditure and Finance Committee has reportedly recommended 25 per cent subsidy.

The scheme is, however, an improvement over the earlier schemes as only 25 per cent has to be paid upfront, while the Bank loans would be 50 per cent and the rest subsidies.

UNI