Government forms 12-member committee to develop tea industry

The government has formed a high-level 12-member committee to develop the tea industry. The committee will review the rescheduling of classified loans for tea garden owners, new loan opportunities, the formation of a revolving fund at 6 percent interest, and the declaration of tea as an agricultural product, and make recommendations to the government.

A notification issued from the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday announced the formation of the 'Monitoring and Advisory Committee for the Development of Bangladesh's Tea Industry'. The notification was signed by Prime Minister's Office Director Habibul Hasan.

According to the notification, the committee will make recommendations on rescheduling or refinancing the existing classified loans of tea garden owners to ease repayment, as well as on providing new loans. It will also provide opinions on the feasibility of forming a revolving fund at 6 percent interest for the tea sector.

Additionally, the committee will review the declaration of tea as an agricultural product and the commercial installation of solar panels on unused land in tea gardens. The committee has been asked to submit its report with recommendations within 30 days.

The committee will be headed by the Commerce Minister. Members include the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary, the Governor of Bangladesh Bank, the secretaries of the Ministry of Land, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Agriculture, the Chairman of the National Board of Revenue, the Chairman of the Bangladesh Tea Board, the Chairman of the Bangladesh Tea Association, former chairman M Wahidul Haque, and the Chairman of the Tea Traders Association of Bangladesh.

The Commerce Secretary will serve as the member secretary of the committee. The notification said any senior secretary in the concerned posts will also be considered a member of the committee. The committee may include new members if necessary.