Guwahati: The tea industry in Assam will soon start discussions on wages as the new wage agreement takes effect from January 1.

The bilateral wage agreement is always signed between the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) and the Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA), Assam Valley branch for fixation of new wages.

The last bilateral agreement was inked on February 26, 2015, with retrospective effect from January 1, 2015 till December 31, 2017.

This time, the Assam government has formed a Minimum Wages Advisory Board to fix minimum wages of tea workers. The board is headed by labour welfare minister Pallab Lochan Das and comprises secretaries of the labour welfare, finance, industry and commerce and food and the civil supplies departments besides five representatives from the tea companies and four from the workers' unions.

It will coordinate the work of the committees and sub-committees, examine their reports and advise the government on fixing the minimum wages of tea plantation workers of the state. The first meeting of the board will be held on November 6.

"We will have to see what kind of decisions they take and after that negotiations will start," the source said. The current wage is Rs 137 a day.

The source said there would be wage increase as has been happening in the previous years, but the sustainability of the industry would also to be kept in mind. Rising cost of inputs has led to increase in production cost, but the prices realised have not been remunerative.