- NET Web Desk
Amid the huge revenue losses incurred by the Assam Tea Corporation Limited (ATCL) – a tea industry board annually since decades, the state Government is now planning to lease-out its tea gardens & factories.
Reports informed that atleast 15 tea gardens along with several factories of ATCL have incurred an annual loss of around Rs 70 Crores, due to economic downturn & escalation in labour cost.
With atleast 16,000 staffs & workers, their liabilities, including Provident Fund (PF) and other dues stand at Rs 500 Crores. While, the liability of another Rs 500 Crores currently stands in form of government loans.
Recently, the tea board has floated a tender inviting the engagement of transaction & bid-process management services in order to lease-out concerned factories to eligible bidders.
The government will leasing out such loss-incurred gardens and factories, thereby ensuring that interests of workers are also fulfilled during the process.
According to reports, all liabilities will be cleared till the date, these gardens are taken-over by private parties.
Its worthy to note that during a recent survey conducted by the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) regarding the revenue-loss for tea industry in Assam, it was found that tea industry in the northeastern state has incurred a huge revenue loss of Rs 1,218 crore – 80 million kg at the rate of Rs 152.26 per kg – due to the nationwide induced COVID-19 lockdown, as on April 15, 2020.
