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Friday, Mar 07, 2008
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Tamil Nadu
Cost-saving measure: Tea Board Chairman Basudeb Banerjee (second right) at the inauguration of a workshop on ‘Energy Conservation in Small Sector Tea Processing Units in South India’ at Coonoor on Thursday. — Udhagamandalam: A major initiative of the Tea Board to conserve energy in the tea processing units, particularly in the small sector, was set in motion at Coonoor on Thursday. The project will be implemented by the Tea Board in association with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and a non-governmental organisation, Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE). Presiding over a project inception workshop titled ‘Energy Conservation in Small Sector Tea Processing Units in South India’ organised as part of the initiative, the Chairman, Tea Board, Basudeb Banerjee, said that there was an urgent need to reduce the cost of energy in the tea sector. Pointing out that after labour the second biggest contributor to the cost of production in the factories was energy, he said that since competition was increasing, the reduction in production cost was vital for survival. Countries like Vietnam were expanding their tea-related activities rapidly and entering virgin territories. Stating that productivity has to go up, he said that focus should be on energy conservation and efficiency. What was learnt from implementing the energy conservation project here would be applied throughout the country. Since the kind of energy used varied from place to place, regional issues must be taken into account while implementing the project. The success rate of similar projects would be studied. Preeti Soni of the UNDP said that the project had been in the pipeline for long. It will focus on energy security, environmental sustainability and economic viability. Exhorting the producers to go by the saying ‘energy saved is energy produced,’ she said that the project will be implemented over a period of four years. The Project Manager, B.J. Ashwini Kumar, said that the objective was to remove barriers in energy conservation and develop strategies for energy efficiency and energy conservation interventions in the tea processing industry. Inter alia it will be achieved by creating awareness among the target sector about energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies and their relation to profitability. Speaking about the project, the Executive Director, Tea Board, R.D. Nazeem, said that it had come at a critical time when the production cost was touching unmanageable levels. The energy costs accounted for about 30 per cent of the total processing cost. The emission of carbon dioxide was also on the rise. The project can be implemented successfully if a change in mindset was brought about among the target group. Stating that it was estimated to cost $ two million, he said that there will be a subsidy component. The secretary, TIDE, Svati Bhogle; Scientist, United Planters Association of Southern India, G. Ramamoorthy and M. Bhojarajan of the Nilgiris District Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers Association also spoke.
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