Delay in registering property by revenue department affects operations.
The takeover of the Ram Bahadur Thakur (RBT) tea estates at Vandiperiyar in Idukki district by the Kerala-based organic coffee exporter Poabs Group has run into rough weather following delay in registering the property by the state revenue department. The Poabs group had in May this year acquired RBT estates, measuring about 9000 acres which had been lying locked for the past eight years. While six of the 9 estates had been opened under the Poabs management since early May this year, three are still entangled in litigations.
The Poabs group had invested Rs 50 crore in eight estates –Nellimala, Pasumala,Grambi, Pambanar, Manjumala, Thengakkal, Thankamala and Mount - that were been put up for auction by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation for default in PF contributions. The ninth estate – Kozhikkanam- is yet to be cleared for auction. The bidder is also bound to clear the back wages of the workers.
Meanwhile, the revenue department has restrained the registration of the deal on the ground that there is some excess land in the estate. Poabs group director Thomas Jacob said the company had agreed to surrender any extent of excess land but that would be possible if only the estates were registered in the company’s name and a mutually acceptable method was adopted to identify the surplus land.
According to a press release, the delay in registration had resulted in problems of handling the day-to-day affairs of the estates employing over 6,000 workers directly and another 3,000 indirectly. The registration of the estates is also essential to provide the necessary collateral security to the financial institutions for release of the remaining loans amounting to nearly Rs 145 crore needed to commence full-scale operations.
Jacob said in the absence of full legal possession, the group was unable to reopen the tea factories to commence tea production and thus had to sell the green leaves to nearby tea factories. If the situation continues, the company would soon be forced to close down the re-opened estates to avoid further loss, he added.