Jorhat, Jun 23 : Assam is on its way to becoming the first state in the country to classify tea according to its quality to clinch back its reputation in the world market.
Industry and power minister Pradyut Bordoloi said the state government was now scouting for a quality certification agency to carry out the classification at the 71st annual general meeting of the Assam Tea Planters’ Association (ATPA) held at the Tea Research Association conference hall here last evening.He said the government has been pulled up a number of times for quality, both within and outside the country and hence decided to classify the quality of tea produced by both the organised and unorganised sectors at all costs.
“We will go for an A, B, C grade certification for tea produced in Assam, which will only fetch higher prices in the market. We will be the first tea-producing state to go for such a classification in the tea sector by an independent agency. I would, therefore, request the tea fraternity to co-operate with the state government’s initiative to help wipe out the bad name earned by Assam tea in the last few years,” Bordoloi said during his hour-long speech at the meeting.
The government’s decision came after several international buyers, who purchase huge quantities of Assam tea, raised questions about the Maximum Residual Limit (MRL), which is a measure of the maximum permissible pesticide residue, in the brew. There have even been instances when reputed buyers have rejected consignments because of the MRL crossing permissible levels.
Bordoloi said the state government was planning to open a second tea auction centre in Jorhat as the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre has failed to shoulder the burden of auctioning of around 500 million kg tea produced.
“Jorhat with its natural resources, the Tea Research Association and the Assam Agricultural University is the perfect location for setting up a new auction centre and we hope to give it a shape very soon. Consultations with various agencies are on,” the minister said.
Replying to complaints from planters about the shortage of power, the minister said the state government had initiated several measures to streamline the power scenario in the state and promised visible changes within a few months. “We will encourage anybody who wants to put up micro-hydel projects which can produce power up to 25MW using whatever resources — a river, rivulet or anything. No permission is required for that,” the minister said.
The state government had already prepared a list of 100 tea gardens, which have the resources to put up such micro-hydel projects and a company, Assam Power Project Development Company, has been formed to look into such proposals.
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