Agartala, Jul 30, 2022, Prasenjit Chakraborty/ TT

The Tripura government has taken initiatives to export the state's high-quality tea to Bangladesh, said Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha.
 
The government has also planned to set up a tea auction centre in the state, the Chief Minister said after launching a new band- ‘Tripureswari Premium Tea’ at a programme on Saturday.
 
Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) launched the ‘Tripureswari Premium Tea’ to meet the demand for the state's high-quality tea in the open markets.
 
The Chief Minister launched the new brand in a simple ceremony at the Civil Secretariat in presence of TTDC chairman Santosh Saha and others.
 
Speaking to the media, the Chief Minister said, the state government is eyeing to generate employment based on the tea industry and extend assistance to micro tea growers.
 
He said, the state government is working for an overall development of the tea industry while an initiative has already been taken for solving the land-related issues of the tea gardens.
 
The Chief Minister lauded the efforts of the Tripura Tea Corporation Development and its officials and employees. He said, the state government is extending all-possible assistance for modernization of Durgabari tea processing unit where two packaging machines have already been installed.
 
Apart from commercial benefits, the state government is also focusing on developing Tea Tourism with various new initiatives, the Chief Minister said.
 
Speaking to the reporters, the Chief Minister shared some details regarding Tripura's tea sector.
 
He said, Hiracherra tea garden at Kailashahar is the first tea garden of the state. There are total 54 tea gardens in the state—three (Machmara, Kamalasagar, Brahmakunda) are run by TTDC, twelve are run by Cooperatives and the remaining 39 tea gardens are private run.
 
The total area of tea gardens is 12900 hactre and around 9 to 10 lakh kg tea is produced in the state which is around 10 percent of the whole country’s tea production, the Chief Minister said.
 
In Tripura, there are 22 tea processing units—two (Durgabari CTPF and Brahmakunda BTPF) are run by the TTDC, five are run by Cooperatives and the remaining 15 are private run. More than 14,000 tea workers are there in the state.
 
Besides, 2800 micro tea growers are there and they produce around 8 million kg green leaves, the Chief Minister added.
 
According to the TTDC chairman, the Tripureswari tea was being supplied to the people under the brand ‘Tripureswari Tea’ only through Public Distribution System (PDS) till then. Now, the new brand has been launched to meet the demand in the common market, Saha told the media, adding that it was a long-standing demand of the local traders and Merchants’ Association.