Govt may soon waive Tea Board permit for tea cultivation

The government might do away with the need of obtaining permit from Tea Board for starting tea cultivation, a move aimed to boost production.
"The Tea Act is being amended now. The government is examining the need for doing away with the need for obtaining permit from Tea Board to start cultivation of tea," Additional Secretary, Commerce Ministry, R R Rashmi said today.
He said this is being done keeping in mind the need for raising productivity, which is one of the key challenges the tea sector is facing.
Some problems would still remain however, particularly in West Bengal, he told reporters on the sidelines of AGM of Tea Research Association (TRA) here.

The Ministry has been asking the West Bengal government to relax certain restrictions relating to land for facilitating tea cultivation, he said adding that the state government have not responded to the proposal as of yet.
In West Bengal, tea cannot be cultivated on all types of land, he said.
Regarding exports, Rashmi said the exporters are being urged to come up with a strategy. "The government will offer help if required", he said.
Asking the exporters to focus on quality, he said the Tea Board would come up with notifications on maximum residue limit (MRL) for some new chemicals.