| The decision was taken at a meeting between the tea garden owners, bankers""United Bank of India, Allahabad Bank, Syndicate Bank, Bank of Baroda""trade unions and the state labour secretary, Union minister of state for commerce and industry, Jairam Ramesh said. |
| Ramesh said, "We have made a small beginning today." The central government has also finalised a financial package for closed tea gardens. The package entails rescheduling of loans, fresh term loans at subsidised interest rates, waiver of dues to Tea Board of India and statutory bodies. The financial burden would be Rs 58 crore on the central government and Rs 80 crore on banks over a period of five years. The cabinet approval for the package was expected in 45 days, according to Ramesh. |
| A Tea Board analysis shows that there are 33 closed gardens across the country, with 17 in Kerala, 14 in West Bengal and two in Assam. |
| The minister said he had written to the chief ministers of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal to allow five per cent of the land area in the tea estates for multi-cropping, in an attempt to improve productivity. |
| Only Assam allows five per cent of its land for alternative uses. Kerala has said this would not be possible. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal were examining the proposal. |
| Ramesh said the productivity issue alone could not result in closure of gardens."Owner insensitivity and mismanagement must be the reasons," he added. |
| Commenting on productivity, Ramesh said the first round of applications for the Special Purpose Tea Fund (SPTF) would be signed on June 25 in Assam. There were around 215 applications from the state. |
| Around 72 applications had been received from West Bengal and the first round of applications in the state would be signed on June 28. |
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