'Govt to issue guidelines for mini, micro tea factories'

Government will issue guidelines for establishing mini and micro tea factories which will be beneficial for small growers, a top Tea board official today said.
Tea Board will allocate more funds and subsidies for small tea growers to maintain their water sheds and transport their produce, Tea Board Chairman Santosh Kumar Sarangi said in a statement.
"Within a month, Tea Board of India, through Ministry of Commerce, will come up with notification on guidelines for setting up mini and micro factories for small tea growers," Sarangi said.
He was speaking at the conference of small tea growers organised by the Centre for Education and Communication.

Small tea growers will have to grow up the value chain, become producers and participate in auction on their own. The board will give them training in quality control and make sure the tea produced is of good quality, Sarangi added.
Speaking at the same event, Centre for Education and Communication Executive Director J John said that a win-win situation will come when tea industry recognises small tea growers and forge sustainable business partnerships with them.
The tea estate factories should also come forward to purchase tea leaf from the small tea growers' societies giving them fairer price, John added.

India is the second largest producer of tea in the world and has about 4.5 lakh small tea growers with less than 0.5 to 5 acres of land.