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A plea has also been made to reduce import duty on tea machinery to five per cent.

Kolkata , Nov. 27

THE tea industry is eagerly waiting for the Union Government to announce incentives pertaining to the industry.

The Tea Association of India has written a letter to the Union Commerce Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, on the subject. Mr Suresh Bansal, President of the association, has identified four areas where the industry is waiting for Government assistance, namely, orthodox production and export, incentives for country-specific exports, support for generic promotion of tea and assistance for tea research institutions.

Mr Bansal urged the Minister to reduce import duty on tea machinery to five per cent (all-inclusive) for a period of 18 months from the date of the issue of the notification.

The association cited the discussion at the Inter-Ministerial Committee meeting held on October 21, where it was suggested that working capital loans up to Rs 50 lakh to tea companies should not carry an interest more than nine per cent.

"As major part of tea production comes from the large sector, it was also suggested that the tea industry would separately take up with the Government, the issue of extending this benefit to loan accounts exceeding Rs 50 lakh," Mr Bansal wrote.

The association has further urged the Union Government to redefine the non-performing assets (NPA) term for the tea industry and extend the period to 18-24 months from the normal 12-month period.

Mr Bansal felt this was necessary because the crop cycle of tea ranged from nine to 12 months and the general NPA time limit ceiling covered at least two crops.

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