MAMATA BACKED WEST BENGAL LOBBY OPPOSES TEA BOARD OF INDIA’S HEADQUATERS SHIFTING TO ASSAM

Guwahati, October 8, 2018:

Assam being the highest producer of tea, it is unlikely to see the shifting of the headquarters of Tea Board of India from Kolkata due to strong opposition by an influential lobby in West Bengal.

Though the BJP-led Assam government is making attempts to shift the Tea Board of India’s headquarters from Kolkata, an influential lobby in West Bengal is trying hard to jeopardize such attempts. The lobby is said to be backed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

A top official of the Tea Board of India on condition of anonymity told InsideNe that the lobby is strongly arguing that if the Tea Board shifts its headquarters to Assam it will many problems. Since the head offices of majority of tea marketing companies are situated in Kolkata there will be a trade related problem in case the Tea Board starts operating from Assam. He lamented that though Assam contributes more than 54 per cent of the world’s tea production, and West Bengal only around 20 per cent, it’s very unfortunate that the headquarters of majority of tea marketing companies are situated in Kolkata. He also

said that if the BJP-led Assam government fails to shift the Tea Board of India’s headquarters from Kolkata to Assam now, it would never be possible to do it in the future.