Jay Shree Tea and Industries Ltd's proposed acquisition of tea estates in Africa might take a bit longer on account of procedural delay on the part of local government there, according to its Managing Director, Mr D.P. Maheshwari.
“Our acquisition plan in the east African country, which was likely to happen within a couple of months, is likely to get delayed due to procedural issues involving local government in those countries,” Mr Maheshwari said, talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the company's 65{+t}{+h} annual general meeting here on Thursday.
The B.K. Birla Group-owned Jay Shree Tea had acquired three tea gardens in East Africa — two in Rwanda and one in Uganda last year and was scouting for another acquisition to boost its output. The company's total tea production grew over three per cent to 24.14 million kg in 2010-11. The company expects to produce around 26 million kg of tea this year. Backed by a higher availability of sugarcane, Jay Shree Tea aims to achieve 16 per cent growth in its sugar production this year.