The Mamata Banerjee Government has finalised two industry groups for privatising five tea gardens owned by the West Bengal Tea Development Corporation Ltd.
While the Ambootia group is set to gain control of three gardens in Darjeeling, Malnady Tea Private Ltd. is likely to be given two estates in Dooars in North Bengal.
The entire process was monitored by KPMG, and the two groups have emerged as the highest financial bidders, two sources connected with the process told The Hindu . There were at least three other companies in the fray for these operational gardens.
It is learnt that the ailing gardens had defaulted on Rs.30 lakh gratuity payments as also rations and firewood allowances to their employees for six months. Other payments were also in arrears. Total workforce at the five estates is estimated at 4,211, and the government is believed to have put in a condition on employment-protection by the new owner. The tea estates are located on 1,069 hectares, of which 679 hectares are in Darjeeling. The government had invited bids in two packages, one for Darjeeling and another for Dooars in the Himalayan foothills last year. The government had announced its intent to sell these two gardens two years ago. Sources said that absence of critical inputs, on the one hand, and lack of marketing skills (especially in overseas markets), on the other, had spelt doom for these state-owned gardens, which were languishing for nearly a decade. “Although they produce quality teas even now, their productivity has dwindled to around seven lakh tonnes now from nine lakh tonnes in 2006,” a source said.
