Tea Board to re-open four gardens in July

The Tea Board is in advanced talks with owners and bankers to re-open four more gardens in West Bengal, according to the chairman, Basudeb Banerjee.

The chairman said that regular meetings were being held and one had been slated for Monday. "We hope to re-open four more tea gardens in July," he said.

Of the 33 tea gardens shut across the country, 14 are located in West Bengal. The first tea garden to re-open was Surendranagar Tea E17.

Asked when the Tea Board would re-open all the tea gardens in the state, Banerjee said it was not possible to specify a date, since there were some pending court cases. "But we are trying our best," Banerjee assured.

The total area under hectarage in the 14 gardens was 6500, involving 12,000 families.

Banerjee stressed on the need for close co-operation from the West Bengal government for re-opening the gardens.

Meanwhile, the centre was in the process of preparing a relief package for the closed gardens. The package would include re-scheduling bank loans, sanctioning working capital and interest subsidy, issuing fresh terms loans and waiver of the Tea Board dues and penalties. While the package had been finalised by the commerce ministry, it was awaiting the cabinet's approval, Banerjee said.

Rough calculations suggest that banks would have to sacrifice Rs 80 crore in the next five years, while the government would have to bear Rs 58 crore.

The Tea Board has also made it conditional for new owners of closed tea gardens to make significant investments in modernisation, as the ageing of bushes was one of the main reasons for the closing of gardens.