Agartala, Dec. 5 (PTI): Tripura Tea Development Corporation Ltd has roped in an agricultural marketing entity of the north-east region to promote its Tripureswari' tea brand, an official said on Monday.
TTDCL has signed an agreement with North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (Neramac) to sell its tea products from three outlets of the latter in Tripura capital Agartala, he said.
"Initially, Neramac will sell Tripureswari tea in its three outlets in Tripura and later, the products will be made available outside the state," TTDCL Chairman Santosh Saha told PTI.
He said TTDCL has an "adequate amount of finished tea" in the store, and "therefore, there will be no shortage for supplying Tripureswari tea to Neramac".
Currently, the state-run tea development entity has been focusing on quality for better marketing, Saha said, adding that a new manufacturing plant will be set up in North Tripura's Machmara tea estate in the next 12 months.
"The foundation stone for setting up the new tea processing plant will be laid this month. The estimated cost of the project will be around Rs 3.5 crore. Tripura Industrial Development Corporation Ltd has been awarded the contract for construction of the facility," he said.
According to Saha, the Tribal Welfare department has already sanctioned Rs1 crore to implement the new project, while remaining fund will be "managed through various sources".
At present, the TTDCL supplies tea leaves from the Machmara garden to Kailashahar in Unakoti district for sale at a nominal price.
"It will be a great deal if tea plucked from the garden is manufactured there. Apart from the Machmara tea estate, many small tea growers don't need to send their produce to Kailashahar for sale," he explained.
The TTDCL has five tea estates and two manufacturing units with an annual production of 8 lakh kg, while the northeastern state produces 90 lakh kg annually.
Of the two tea processing units, one situated at Durgabari tea estate in West Tripura district is fuelled by natural gas.
Over 20,000 people are directly involved in the state's oldest industry.