Guwahati, Aug. 29: The ministry of commerce and industry has approved the delegation of power under the Tea Marketing Control Order (TMCO) from the Calcutta office of the Tea Board of India to its Guwahati office for the convenience of tea growers of the Northeast.

The Centre's permission is required for delegation of powers of the registering/licensing authority under clause 31 of Tea Marketing Control Order, 2003. The order was signed this month by the director (plantations), ministry of commerce, Vandana Yadav, and has the approval of Nirmala Sitharaman, the minister of state (independent charge) for commerce and industry.

"This will be a huge benefit to the tea growers of the region who had to run to Calcutta for all kinds of permission under the TMCO. We now have extensive powers under us," an official of the Tea Board in Guwahati said. Buying and marketing of tea in the country is done under the TMCO.

Powers have been delegated for registration of manufacturers of tea, buyers of tea, cancellation/suspension of registration of manufacturers/buyers, grant or refusal of license, renewal of licence, signing of licence/registration and cancellation/suspension of licence. The order says necessary implementing orders under TMCO 2003 and requisite administrative orders may be issued immediately. "It has now become a single window facility for the tea growers of the region," Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty, president of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers' Association told The Telegraph.

Rohit Borgohain, the general secretary of the All Assam Small Tea Growers' Association, said this is a significant development as far as tea growers in the region are concerned. "We had demanded delegation of powers too," Borgohain said. This will be more important for small tea growers who had to go to Calcutta for taking permission. The contribution from the small sector throughout the country has gone up from five per cent in the early Nineties to 31 per cent now and it is expected to touch 50 per cent within the next few years.

The total outlay for the Tea Board in the Twelfth Plan is Rs 1,425 crore, of which Rs 200 crore is for small tea growers and a lot of activities have been proposed for the sector. Growers with area up to 10.12 hectares are considered small tea growers.

A source said the Guwahati office does not have an executive director at present, without which it would be difficult to implement the delegation of powers. "There is need for an IAS officer who will have all the powers to carry out the duties," the source said.