Guwahati: Worried on the export of tea stagnant for a decade, the State Union Minister for Trade and Industry, Anupriya Patel, on Thursday said the center had allocated Rs 98 Crore to increase tea exports from the northeastern region.
“The tea industry has greater potential but we are worried because exports remain stagnant for the past 10 years, affecting the 200-year-old tea industry,” Patel said at a press conference here.
Under the Tea & Promotion Development Scheme (TDPS) for five years from 2021-22, RS 967 Crore has been intended by the Maid Center.
“The specific sector allocation of RS 98 Crore to increase exports from the northeast has been done,” Patel said.
He hopes that the RS 298 Crore intended to clean the delayed subsidies will be properly utilized because it is also the supply of the Union budget of Rs 1,000 Crore for the welfare of tea workers, especially women and children in Assam and West Bengal.
Patel further informs that to promote and branding assam silk and handicrafts, this center will involve the Institute of Indian Packaging, Mumbai, to train labor to package their products.
In spices, he said the spice board would form a nab accredited lab in the northeast.