GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister, Sarbananda Sonowal has urged the tea industry to adopt a scientific approach for regaining the lost glory of Assam tea.
Exhorting experts of Toklai Tea Research Institute in Jorhat to lead the industry in this direction, Sonowal said the researchers and scientists of the institute must come forth with newer inventions so that Assam tea could capture the tea market of the world.
“Both the central and state governments are very much committed to improve the tea sector of the state and would
extend all required support in this regard,” Sonowal said after laying the foundation stone of a tea tourism centre at research institute in on Sunday.
The tea tourism centre will be built under signature project of “Uttaran Scheme” of the government of Assam.
The chief minister while reminding that the tea industry of Assam faces stiff challenges in the world tea market today, especially due to entry of new countries in the tea production sector, observed that to tide over such a challenging situation, the tea industry would have to upgrade the quality of its production.
Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while speaking on the occasion, said
that the state government adopted ‘Uttaran Scheme’ to give a new dimension to the visions of the MLAs and implementing innovative projects suitable to local needs.
He also informed that the state government would spend Rs 1260 crore during the current fiscal under the scheme.
Sarma emphasised on adopting better strategy and augmenting quality of the tea produced in the state for tackling the present challenges. He also informed about the state government’s initiatives to reduce the maternal mortality rate in the tea gardens of the state.
Speaker of Assam Legislative Assembly Hitendra Nath Goswami andJorhat MP
Kamakhya Prasad Tasa also spoke on the occasion.
Chairman of Tocklai Tea Research
Institute Prabhat Kamal Bezbaruah, director Anup Kumar Baruah and several scientists as well as officials of the Centre were present in the programme.
New brands of yellow tea and green tea
developed by the Tea Reseach Institute after extensive research were formally launched by the dignitaries.
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