Frequent and unscheduled power cuts for long hours as well as low voltage created havoc for majority of the tea estates of Assam and industry sources said that if the situation does not improve soon, most of the gardens would face serious problems soon. Tea Industry sources told The Assam Tribune today that in recent times, majority of the gardens faced serious problems due to frequent power cuts and in some places of the State, the gardens located in the remote areas faced power cuts for as many as 20 hours in a day. Sources said that as the Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) failed to announce any schedule for load shedding, the gardens are not in a position to plan ahead, while, low voltage and frequent tripping of power supply damaged the machines of the gardens. Under the present circumstances, most of the gardens are forced to depend heavily on their own generator sets. But for the smaller gardens it will not be economically viable to depend entirely on their own generator sets as the cost would make the gardens unviable economically. The cost of production of per kilogram of tea will go up substantially if the gardens are forced to depend too heavily on own generator sets and it would become increasingly difficult for the gardens of Assam to compete in the international market, sources added. From time to time, the Tea Associations called upon the Government to take steps to improve the situation, but the pleas fell to deaf ears. Sources revealed that the gardens have to pay a fixed charge on the contracted load per month even if regular supply of power is not available or unusable because of low voltage. The Tea Associations demanded that the fixed charge should be proportional to the actual supply of usable power available in a month but the Government is yet to take any decision in this regard. The Tea Associations also demanded a concessional tariff and the industry is of the view that the tariff hike last year was unreasonable considering the fact that the ASEB was not able to provide smooth and uninterrupted supply of power. The Tea Associations also demanded exemption on electricity duty on the generator sets used by the gardens. Meanwhile, industry sources said that because of the concessions provided by the other tea producing states of the country, the gardens of Assam are already facing problems and if the cost of production increases further, it would add to the problems of the industry. Sources pointed out that the gardens of the Brahmaputra valley of the state have to pay cess on green leaf at a rate of 32 paise per kilogram of green leaf produced, while, the gardens of the Barak valley are to pay the same at the rate of 29 paise per kilogram. The tea associations are demanding exemption on cess on green leaf as done by the other tea producing states of the country, but the State Government refused to do so. The land revenue rates in Assam are also higher than all the other tea producing states of the country.