R'sthan to come up with 'olive tea' manufacturing plant

An olive tea manufacturing plant is soon going to come up in Bassi village near here as the Rajasthan government has signed a pact with a city-based private partner.
We have signed an agreement with a private partner to manufacture olive tea.
The plant will soon be operational in Bassi village near Jaipur, Principal Secretary (Agriculture and Horticulture), Neelkamal Darbari told PTI.
Director (Agriculture) Ambrish Kumar said that the MoU has been signed for next five years and if it is profitable the state government will take 10 per cent of the earned revenue.
Elaborating further about the project, Chief Operating Officer of Rajasthan Olive Cultivation Limited, Yogesh Kumar Verma said that parts of three farms including in Jhunjhunu, Jaipur and Jalore have been given to the partner firm for collecting olive leaves.

Seventy five per cent of the farm will be with the partner and 25 per cent will be used by the state government for research and development activities.

The small-scale plant will initially produce nearly 50kg tea on daily basis. The firm has hired tea tasters as well.
Under the MoU, the partner company will maintain the farms and manage its expenses, Verma added.
Though olive team market is in nascent stages in India, its international demand is soaring due to its health benefits and its anti-oxidant rich nature.
Verma said that olive tea is 3 per cent healthier than the normal green tea.

An international brand sells one sachet of olive tea at Rs 28 and its box at Rs 508, he added.
Apart from producing olive tea, the state government is also looking forward to extract oleic acid from olive leaves, which is a major component of most of the medicines used for treating heart ailments.
Most of the medicines used in treat heart diseases have oleic acid as one of the components.
"If we are able to extract it, it will open further avenues in pharmaceutical sector," Verma said.