Siliguri, Feb. 29: Union finance minister Arun Jaitley didn’t make any announcement in the budget today for the tea sector which wanted concessions for small planters, waiver of import duty on processing machines and promotion of the products in international markets. 

“There is nothing for the tea industry in the budget. Several organisations had sent letters to the Union finance minister and the Union minister of state for commerce and industry, seeking waivers, concessions and incentives which can help in the growth of the sector,” said Bijoygopal Chakraborty, the president of the Confederation of 
Indian Small Tea Growers’ Associations. 

According to him, small growers, who contribute over 35 per cent of India’s total tea production, had asked for the inclusion of the sector in different agricultural schemes floated by the Centre, like crop insurance, soil health card, irrigation scheme and interest subvention on loans. 

“However, we drew a blank in the budget. There is no major difference between a farmer and a small tea grower in economic parameters. Yet, the small tea growers are not entitled to benefits provided to farmers,” Chakraborty added. 

Tea industry sources said one of the key demands was reduction of import duty on machinery for tea processing. The import duty on tea processing machinery is 10 per cent. 

“There are only a few manufacturers of processing machines in India. To ensure that the industry moves ahead with the latest technology, machines need to be imported from countries such as Japan and Germany. That is why a concession on import duty was sought from the Centre. The  concessions can encourage the industry to bring in machineries which would enhance production. No such announcement was made in the budget,” S. Guhathakurta, the secretary of the Dooars Branch of Indian Tea Association, said. 

A tea planter based in Siliguri said that given the increased competition in the international market, the Centre should have announced a global campaign to popularise Indian tea and boost exports.

“The Prime Minister often remembers his old days as a ‘chaiwala.’ He calls his short sessions of interactions as ‘Chai Pe Charcha.’ Yet, his finance minister seems to have forgotten his cup of tea today,” the planter said. 

“These days, new competitors are emerging in the global market and Indian tea planters are worried over higher cost of production which is eventually increasing the prices of produce in the global market. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to launch an aggressive global campaign to boost exports. No such initiative was articulated in the budget.”

Tea trade union leaders have also expressed disappointment over the budget. 

“Neither the state nor the Centre is bothered to announce any special package for workers and their families who are living in distressed conditions in closed and sick gardens. They are subsisting on the meagre relief provided by the state and nothing has been provided by the Centre so far,” Ziaur Alam, the convener of the Joint Forum, a common platform of 24 tea trade unions, said. 

Mani Kumar Darnal, the joint general secretary of the Intuc-backed National Union of Plantation Workers, said: “The state finance minister in his budget had just iterated the corpus fund of Rs 100 crore created to help tea planters (workers have no option to avail themselves of assistance from the fund). Today, the Union finance minister did not allocate a single rupee for the affected people, even though elaborate announcements were made for the agricultural sector,” Darnal said.