Agartala, Dec 4 Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday advised the state-owned Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) to work towards making the organisation financially profitable and to adopt targeted plans for employment generation.
Emphasising the need to further expand Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “vocal for local” initiative, the Chief Minister called for greater utilisation and promotion of the state’s tea products within Tripura.
In the review meeting of the TTDC held at the civil secretariat on Thursday, the Chief Minister studied the progress of the Corporation's work and said that Tripura tea is not inferior in taste and aroma.
He said that it is necessary to maintain the natural qualities of tea and take marketing initiatives through wide publicity and promotion. It is possible to earn more profit by marketing Tripura tea in those states of the country where tea is not produced.
Industries and Commerce Department Secretary Kiran Gitte informed that the annual tea production in the state in 2024 was 90 lakh kg in Tripura.
There are five tea gardens under the TTDC, 13 run by cooperatives, and 36 privately owned tea gardens in the state.
According to Gitte, the number of small tea farmers is 2,800. Various initiatives have been taken to improve the living standards of tea garden workers under the Chief Minister's Tea Workers Welfare Scheme.
The daily wage of tea workers has been increased from Rs 105 to Rs 204. The upgradation work of the Brahmakund Tea Processing Centre in West Tripura district has been completed. A small tea processing factory has been set up in the Machmara Estate.
In the review meeting, Minister of Industries and Commerce Santana Chakma, Chairman of TTDC Sameer Ranjan Ghosh, Chief Secretary J. K. Sinha, Secretary to the Chief Minister Pradeep Kumar Chakraborty, Secretary of the Finance Department Apurba Roy, Managing Director of TTDC Subrata Kumar Das and others were present and participated in the discussion.
--IANS
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