Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

14-May-2012 16:43 IST

The Tea Board, set up under the Tea Act, 1953, is charged with the responsibility of overall development of the Tea Sector. The primary functions as specified in the Tea Act, 1953 include regulating the production and extent of cultivation of tea; improving the quality of tea; promoting cooperative efforts among growers and manufacturers of tea; encouraging scientific, technological and economic research; regulating the sale and export of tea; increasing the consumption in India and elsewhere, registering and licensing of manufacturers, brokers, tea waste dealers and persons engaged in the business of blending tea; improving the marketing of tea in India and elsewhere; securing better working conditions and the provisions and improvement of amenities and incentives for workers; collection and dissemination of statistical information, etc. The Tea Board is, accordingly, implementing various plan schemes to perform the entrusted functions. For ensuring an equitable sharing of sale price of made tea between the growers and the manufacturers, a Price Sharing Formula (PSF) has been notified by the Tea Board. As per this formula, sale price of made tea has to be shared between the growers and the factories in the ratio prescribed for each tea growing State, e.g., the ratio is 65:35 in Assam and 58:42 in West Bengal.

This information was given by Shri Jyotiradiya M. Scindia, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

DS/GK

Price sharing formula mandates allocation of made-tea sale proceeds between growers and factories under Tea Board regulation. The Tea Board under the Tea Act administers sectoral development by regulating cultivation, sale and export, and by registering and licensing participants in the trade. It promotes quality improvement, scientific and economic research, and marketing domestically and abroad, while discharging worker welfare duties and compiling sector statistics. The Board enforces a Price Sharing Formula to allocate proceeds of made tea sales between growers and factories and implements plan schemes to operationalize these measures.