Tea Board is exploring the option of improving production of tea by vertical development which essentially means replanting and rejuvenation in the ten year plan, said N K Das, chairman, Tea Board at the 111th annual general meeting of the Calcutta Tea Traders Association (CTTA).

He further said that irrigation, drainage, processing facilities and value addition must be high lighted. "Tea must be produced in a hygienic and clean manner so that image of Indian tea improves" he added.

It may be mentioned that the share of Indian tea in the export market has come down to 14 per cent. The share of tea in GDP has also declined to 0.34 per cent from 1.24 per cent.

The commerce ministry is also readying to address the problems associated with the primary market including auctions. An independent study will be made to suggest improvements.

PriewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Accenture and McKinsey & Company are in the fray for the purpose. Aggressive marketing in selective markets abroad will also be under taken for to increase share in exports.

DL Thapar, outgoing chairman said that the sales tax rate should be reduced to four per cent. Das also suggested that electronic bidding should be introduced for speeding up the auction process. There is tremendous scope for reducing time in the auction process" he said.

Business Standard(05/05/2001)

More News.....

COLOMBO (Dow Jones)--Sri Lanka's total tea production in March fell 19.6% compared with the previous year, according to Asia Siyaka Commodity Brokers Friday.

Tea output in March was estimated at 25.9 million kilograms compared with 32.2 million kilograms in the same month last year, it said.

Brokers said the lower production was mainly due to a three-week go-slow campaign by hundreds of plantation workers during that month. The campaign, which was in demand of a wage increase, ended March 15.

"Production and auction quantities declined following the go-slow on plantations for almost half of the month," Asia Siyaka said in a statement.

However, in the first three months of this year, total tea production rose around 4% to 79.5 million kilograms.

In 2000, total tea production stood at 305.8 million kilograms, compared with 283.7 million kilograms in 1999. The production in 2000 marked the first time that Sri Lanka's annual tea output surpassed the 300 million-kilogram level, according to the Tea Board.

The government has privatized a number of plantations since 1995, resulting in improved husbandry and more efficient land use and increasing tea output in recent years, according to industry officials.

The government has sold 51% stakes in 19 plantations.

It still has majority control in three others, which are mainly coconut and rubber plantations.

Asia Siyaka has forecast that tea production in April will rise marginally to 27 million kilograms from 26.5 million kilograms in the same month last year.

The following is a breakdown by elevation of tea production for March and the corresponding figures for 2000.

 
                   2001               2000 
  High Grown     6,611,347          9,117,214 
  Medium Grown   4,988,999          6,346,557 
  Low Grown     14,357,241         16,829,472 
 
 (All figures are in kilograms.) 

 

Dow Jones 04.05.2001

More News.....

In a bid to ensure optimal returns to tea producers, government and the tea industry have decided to appoint a consultant to review the present auction system and make it more competitive. Moreover, to promote exports of the commodity, the industry has also been asked to chalk out more aggressive marketing campaigns.

"We have agreed to constitute a small group under a consultant to find out measures to make the primary market more competitive. The consultant will be appointed within the next two months," officials in the Indian Tea Board said.

The tea industry had been facing a situation of falling prices for the past few months. The industry would also chalk out more aggressive marketing campaigns to promote exports in nations like Russia and the U.K., officials said and added "the campaigns would include advertisements and buyer/seller meets and be submitted to the government for funding".

Funds for the purpose would be obtained from schemes such as market access initiative and market development assistance, the officials stated. Tea industry has also worked out a promotion campaign for the domestic market, which would be implemented by June this year, they added.

The budget for the promotion campaign was Rs. 6 crore with an equal contribution by the Tea Board and industry. Government was also preparing the overall export targets for the current fiscal and they would be announced next month, officials said. Commerce ministry has also asked the industry to work out company wise replantation programmes for deployment of additional funds, made available on account of an increase in exemption of tea companies profits to 40 per cent from 20 per cent earlier.

The company-wise programme to be chalked by June this year would help in medium term improvement of productivity and quality of tea in the country, the official said.

Wednesday, May 02, 2001 Business Standard

More News.....