Preservation price

Guwahati, July 13: Tea warehouse owners have ended their strike after sellers agreed to pay Rs 19 for every package of tea to be stored for a month.

The decision was taken today after negotiations between the sellers and the warehouse owners at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre. The rates are applicable for one year.

Warehouse owners had gone on a strike on July 9 after negotiations for increasing storage rates failed.

They had earlier demanded Rs 30 after which they climbed down to Rs 24 after negotiations.

The earlier rate was Rs 16 per package.

“The strike has ended and we have accepted the new rates,” president of Guwahati Tea Warehousing Association, Ramesh Jain, said today.

“At Rs 16, we were finding it difficult to manage and at Rs 19 the situation has only ‘slightly’ improved,” Jain said.

The rates for keeping tea after 30 days was earlier Rs 1.75 every week which has now been revised to Rs 2.10.

An official at GTAC said the auction centre would request the Tea Board of India to ask A.F. Ferguson and Company to conduct a study for recommending a fair warehouse rate since there have always been conflicting views on the ideal rent.

Tea warehouses which act as “custodians” of tea have been complaining that with prices of real estate rising, they are finding it difficult to keep their business going.

Four of them, in fact, had to close down this year. Since tea is a seasonal occupation, warehouses run out of business for long periods.

The price of keeping tea at warehouses in Calcutta has been fixed at Rs 21 for one year.

The steep rates of warehouses have forced the tea industry to weigh other options like storing in a tea park or establishing satellite warehouses near tea gardens.

Dispur has shown interest in setting up a tea park with state-of-the-art facilities and is scouting for a suitable place.

“Real estate and transportation costs will also be low in satellite tea warehouses,” a source in the tea industry said.