GUWAHATI: The Assam government today, September 25 declared 20 percent bonus for workers of its tea gardens and announced several schemes in the form of interest subvention and capital subsidy for private tea gardens in the state, especially targeting the orthodox tea production units.
Assam Finance Minister, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, said here that workers of gardens under Assam Tea Corporation Ltd (APCL) will receive 20 percent bonus for Durga Puja this year.
The fund will be provided under the state budget as the APCL is not in a position to bear the financial burden, he added.
The minister also appealed to the private tea gardens to declare similar bonus for their workers, pointing that the state government has come up with a number of schemes for the tea industry to help them tide over the difficult phase the industry has been going through in the past few years.
Among the schemes for the industry announced by the minister, the government is providing 3 percent interest subvention on working capital, with a cap of Rs 20 lakhs per annum, borrowed from commercial banks.
Further, the minister said that the Assam government will pay subsidy of Rs 7 per kg of orthodox tea that is exported from the state, with effect from April 1 this year, which will be in addition to Rs 3 per kg subsidy provided by the Tea Board of India.
Moreover, 25 percent capital subsidy for purchase of machinery to produce orthodox tea will also be provided by the state government.
Dr Sarma added that the Assam government will encourage more production of orthodox tea as it has high demand globally.