Unit cost of tea replantation in S India hiked by Rs 70,000

Kochi, Aug 5 (UNI) In view of the higher labour costs in south India, the Centre has hiked the unit cost of replantation of tea in Tamil Nadu and Kerala by Rs 70,000 per hectare, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said.

Addressing a press conference here last night, Mr Ramesh said the Centre had decided last week to increase the unit cost for tea replantation in south India from Rs 2.73 lakh per hectare to Rs 3.44 lakh per hectare.

''We hope this would enthuse the planters in south India to go in for replantation in a bigger way. We would like at least 50 per cent of them to apply for assistance under the Centre's 'Special Purpose Tea Fund' for replantation and rejuvenation of tea plants,'' he added.

The Centre's 'Special Purpose Tea Fund' (SPTF) for replantation and rejuvenation in tea estates older than 50 years was launched in Guwahati on June 25 and in West Bengal on June 29.

So far, the government had received 81 applications from Assam and 45 from West Bengal. However, the response from south India was not very good with only 11 applications coming from Kerala and 13 from Tamil Nadu.

On review, it was found the planters in the south were not satisfied with the unit cost of replantation determined by NABARD as the labour costs in the region are much higher. Now that the unit costs have been revised, the government hoped that the SPTF would pick up in south India also, he added.

Mr Ramesh said the first round of agreements in Kerala for the SPTF assistance was expected to be signed in mid-September.

He said it had also been decided to shift the Tea Board Development Office from Kottayam to Vandiperiyar in Idukki district.

Observing that Idukki was the heartland of tea cultivation in Kerala, he said Vandiperiyar was the ''logical choice'' to locate the Tea Board's Development Office.

UNI