Maran assures help to plantation growers

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 10.The Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Mr. Murasoli Maran, has assured all help to producers of tea, coffee and other plantation crops in tiding over the critical situation prevailing in the plantation sector in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Mr. Maran gave this assurance to a delegation of Plantation Associations of Southern India, led by the Minister of State for Finance, Mr.Dhananjaya Kumar, at a meeting here today. The delegation included MPs from the affected States-Mr. C.P. Radhakrishnan, Mr. Ramesh Chennithala, Mr. D.C. Srikantappa, Mr. P.C. Thomas, Master Mathan, Mr. J. Chitharanjan, Mr. C. Kuppuswami, Dr.C. Krishnan and Ms. Jayaprada. Trade union leaders representing the five major plantation labour unions of the southern region were present at the meeting, besides senior officials of plantation associations, including Mr.E.K. Joseph. Vice President, UPASI, Mr. E.B. Sethna, Chairman, Planters Association of Tamil Nadu, and Mr. N. Ramadurai, Secretary General, UPASI. The Commerce Secretary, Mr. P.P. Prabhu also participated.

The members informed the Minister of the crisis facing the industry owing to fall in prices and the burden of taxation. They urged the Government to provide immediate relief through abolition of excise duty on tea and further reduction of sales tax to 2 per cent by the State Governments as had already been done in West Bengal and Assam. Expressing concern over the likely adverse impact of tea import from Sri Lanka under the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement, the delegation suggested that a better and long-term approach would be to evolve a joint promotional campaign to target overseas import markets instead of both countries vying with each other to export tea to each other.

The Minister told the delegation that even Sri Lanka was open to exploring such possibilities. Sri Lanka, Kenya and India together could dominate the world market for tea. Allaying concerns regarding imports, Mr. Maran said till now no tea had come from Sri Lanka under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Mr.Dhananjaya Kumar added that with the recent hike in import duty, there was no possibility of imports adversely affecting the domestic sector. In response to a suggestion made by the delegation for renegotiation of bound rates of tariff for tea and coffee, it was explained that no such negotiations specific to plantation sector were taking place in the WTO.

In their representation to the Minister, the delegation highlighted the importance of the plantation industry in Southern India and noted that the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka accounted for nearly 25 per cent of the country's total tea production employing 2.5 lakh workers and contributed Rs.800 crores worth of foreign exchange earnings annually. Tamil Nadu alone accounts for about 11 per cent of the area and 15 per cent of the total production of tea.

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