Industry eyes farm-centric budget, urges tax incentives The tea industry wants the Centre to help it fight climate change, which is affecting crop output. The common ground between the large estates and small tea growers — now an emerging force in the Indian tea industry — seems to be the incentives they are seeking to support the farm practices that have become necessary to combat climate change. Small tea-growers, who have begun carving out an increasing share in India’s total crop, are urging the Centre to adopt a more farm-centric approach — one which would assist a majority among them, who grow tea on less than an acre. “They are essentially farmers and they need schemes to protect them from the impact of climate change and resultant crop loss,” the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers Association said in a representation to the Centre. “We strongly urge the government of India to implement crop insurance schemes and invest in preparing farmers.” Irrigation facilities As erratic climate continues to affect output, the industry’s focus is on creating irrigation facilities and on replanting the older tea bushes. Almost 38% of the area under cultivation comprises tea bushes which are more than 50 years old. While the younger 10-year-old bushes cover 26% of the area, about 9-10% each fall in the intervening decadal categories spanning 11-50 years. The age of a bush is directly linked with yield. Industry gets support for its investment in this regard through income tax deductions, with the floor limit set at Rs. 25 crore. This limit ought to be removed so as to enable investment in plant and machinery for irrigation, according to the industry. The problem of small farmers having to face heavy crop loss due to recurring instances of hailstorms, frost, rains and droughts, in the absence of any system to compensate them, is another concern. “We strongly urge the government to implement crop insurance schemes and invest in measures that would prepare farmers to face the challenge of climate change,” the growers’ body said. It also wanted the government to declare minimum support price for green tea leaf produced by small growers. According to the Tea Board, small growers accounted for 44% of the 1,250.5 million kg of tea crop in 2016-17. The organised tea industry, which is weighed down by social costs (mandated under the Plantation Labour Act and covering areas like housing, medical, potable water and subsidised rations), is also keen to see some direct tax relief for these expenses. Customs duty on specified machinery was 5% in 2003 and through yearly extensions continued at this level till 2011. Industry contends that the moderate increases in price do not cover the rise in inputs costs. In respect of GST, the industry has sought some simplification and removal of anomalies that are affecting exporters. On the value-added export front (tea bags), industry is looking for concessional duty on filter paper, multiwall paper and nylon cloth which is required for making tea bags. “These products are either not available in the domestic market or of poor quality. Total duty incidence on these papers is very high making India uncompetitive,” industry said.