Tea Trade Association of Coimbatore has appealed to the State Government for a uniform VAT rate of one per cent for all teas sold through the auction centres and subsequent sales within the State.

At the 31st Annual General Meeting of the Association, its Chairman N. Anand requested for removal of the anomaly arising out of differential VAT rates levied in the auction centres. Urging the Government to resolve this issue, he said, “this dual VAT rate created unhealthy competition between the auction centres in the State and elsewhere. Uniformity in rate would help improve the volume of teas sold through the auction centres in Tamil Nadu.”

While appealing for a uniform rate, Anand also highlighted the delay in getting the refund. “This should be made faster and easier to attract more buyers and exporters to buy from the auction centres in Coonoor and Coimbatore,” he said.

The trade, he said was waiting for pan-India auction to happen soon. “This will be the next big thing to happen in the industry. Once in place, it will open a new vista for buyers; price realisation would improve and the small tea grower would benefit immensely,” he added.

The association has appealed to the Tea Board to initiate measures to bring tea delegations from Russia and Poland on a regular basis to increase India’s exports to these markets. Export targets should be fixed and exporters incentivised to motivate them to do better and compete with other tea exporting countries, he said.

On the volumes traded in the auction centre here, he said, “despite the 23 per cent increase in the average tea price to Rs 98.26/kg in the first eight months of the current year, the quantities sold have dropped, albeit marginally to 12.24 million kg (From January to August 2013) from 12.92 mkg during the corresponding months of 2012. The quality has remained consistent,” he added.

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