A Self-Reliant Tea Economy Offering Inclusive Growth: A Case of Tripureswari Tea, India

Abstract

The tea industry is the second most organized industry after rubber in Tripura, India and is gravid with immense potential that can offer inclusive and sustainable growth to the state’s economy directly and indirectly. The industry went through a series of troubles ranging from insurgency to ethnic clashes over the last six decades. Despite the challenges, the Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) returned to the profit path in 2018. The marketing opportunities for the tea gardens have been rudimentary, depriving the tea growers of their due recognition and better returns on investments; however, TTDC’s Tripureswari brand of tea has successfully positioned itself with a strong appeal and quick acceptance by the masses. The public distribution supply chain supported by the co-operative societies helps reduce the shipment cost and ensures the availability of tea at affordable prices for common people. The purpose of this study was to explore the nuances of the tea industry in Tripura and to consider how re-engineering can turn this industry into a profit-making public sector. To understand the turnaround strategy of this research, the authors have used a mixed method approach where secondary data were collected, discussed, and gathered from interviews with area experts. The findings of this research indicate that the state-owned Tripura Tea Development Corporation Ltd. (TTDC) transformed itself through re-engineering the supply chain. Furthermore, coupling with branding exercises has instilled confidence, even among the small tea growers, thereby offering social security and inclusion. Further, TTDC has taken the socially excluded people under its ambit through plantation activities using the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

1. Introduction: Growth Trajectory of the Tea Industry in Tripura

The economic prosperity of the state mainly depends on industrial output [1]. The growth provided by industrial development can boost the economy by creating infrastructure and augmenting basic facilities like transport, banking and financial institutions, educational institutions, and so forth. Industrial development plays a pivotal role in fostering the growth of the underdeveloped or developing economy. In the absence of avid industrialization, Tripura’s economic growth has been less than expected due to multifarious reasons [2].

Tripura’s economy reeled from the transition from the primary sector to the service sector. To boost the industrial growth in the State, Industries, and Commerce Department, the Government of Tripura has taken up promotional activities in resource-based industries like rubber, food processing, natural gas, and tea [2]. Tea has been being produced in Tripura for almost a century now. According to Wernerfelt’s resource-based theory (1984) [3], it is a strategic asset for the state’s economy that has gained significant attention of late. Being a non-mechanized industry, it plays a pivotal role in securing the livelihood of tea growers in the state and contributes to the local and regional development of the state’s economy. Further, the conducive weather and fertile soil provide a competitive advantage for tea as a socially responsible and sustainable product [4].To boost the economy of Tripura, in 1961 the then Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya Bahadur (1909–1923) established tea gardens based on the advice of Nobel Laureate poet, Rabindranath Tagore, who was a friend of the royal family.In other states, tea gardens were established by the British. Land to establish tea gardens was only leased out to Bengali entrepreneurs from East Bengal for rent-free periods of three years [5]. A total of 22 tea estates were established during this first year, with approximately 3737 drones (24,800 acres) of land. The first tea garden was Hirachhera tea garden at Kailashahar (then North Tripura District; now Unokoti District). Some young students from the non-co-operation movement by Mahatma Gandhiji became interested by the offer of Maharaja and came forward from Comilla to establish tea gardens in Tripura: the Fatikchhera and Kalkalia tea estates in West Tripura District.

The Tripura tea industry has faced ownership challenges overtime. Ethnic clashes, insurgency issues, and labour unrest have forced owners to abandon these estates [6]. Later, these estates were taken over by the Government;now there are three categories of ownership: (i)Tripura Tea Development Corporation Ltd. (TTDC), Agartala, India (ii)private ownership, and (iii)the worker’s co-operative.

Tripura Tea Development Corporation Ltd. (TTDC) is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), which has been directly regulated by the government since 1960. Since then, the PSU has been struggling to grow due to various challenges. In his seminal paper on resource-based theory, Barney (1991) [4] states that a firm can gain competitive advantage and achieve a superior performance through the execution of superior strategies and the possession of unique resources, respectively [7]. The uniqueness of the Tripura tea industry is characterized by the availability ofabundant fertile land, a skilled workforce suitable for tea production, and the existence of capital goods, which are core resources to the tea industry. Considering the presence of these unique resources, the purpose of this study is to explain the strategies undertaken by the Government in TTDC to cope with the performance deficit andto present the evolution of a state-owned corporation with a decade-long history of incurring financial losses to a profit-making organization without any significant infrastructural capacity augmentation or technology change.

Recent official data from the Tea Board of India mentioned that India’s Northeast region produced more than 80% of India’s total tea production, comprising 17% of total global production in 2020 [8]. Tripura’s indigenous tea variety is gaining popularity locally as well as in other states of India. TTDC chairperson, Mr. Santosh Saha, stated in an interview in 2020 that his corporation has started to supply tea to 231 fair price shops, thereby fulfilling the requirement of supplying 1.5 million kilograms. He also mentioned the importance of curating awareness programs, such as “Run for India Tea”, in collaboration with the Tea Board of India in Tripura [9]. Looking at the present scenario of the tea industry in Tripura, we were curious to decipher the reasons behind the quantum improvement in the financial performance of the corporation. Although we conducted an extant literature review to contextualize the strategic interventions specific to our case, our efforts revealed that limited research has been done to address such issues in smaller states. Therefore, the current study has been designed not just to explore the reason for such improvement, but also to contribute to the literature in the field.

Various literature on the tea industry has discussed the different facets of the industry—such as its culture and evolution, the socioeconomic and political factors affecting it, its workers and the security of their livelihoods, as well as production, composition, and consumption; however, no work has documented the journey from a loss-incurring to profit-making tea industry and the interventions employed by a state-owned agency that is involved in it. The inimitability of the case could help to conceptualize similar cases in the country and could also help state governments that are pioneering in the tea industry to regulate their activities for further revenue generation.

The following sections address the objectivesof and methodology used by the state for the tea industry in Tripura. The study continues with a section titled “Tripura Tea Industry in Flux: The Pertinent Problem.”Finally, the paper closes with an intricate discussion about the turnaround strategy employed and a conclusion of our findings.

2. Materials and Methods

This article tries to explain how the tea industry and its processes have been re-engineered and turned into a profit-making Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) in the state that generates the highest revenue among all other PSUs [5,9]. To understand the turnaround strategy in our primary research, we investigated the strategic marketing interventions undertaken by the State Government through TTDC, which includes:

• Brand Identity
• Distribution Logistics
• Demand Fulfillment
• Selling Activities
• Convergence with other development sectors

First, we attempted to identify the areas of concern and clarify the prevalence and relevance of risks extrapolated from expert interviews and existing research. Secondly, we associated the problem with existing theories. The first theory deals with the capacity management problem that arises out of a wide variety of manufactured situations; the occurrence of tea growers in diverse settings and their management have been discussed. The second theory discusses the factors of production and the tea production process, where an attempt has been made to identify the factors responsible for slow growth. This is secondary data-based research where the data have been directly collected from TTDC. Furthermore, expert interviews shed light on the various drivers, sources, and impacts of risk across the industry. The interviews were conducted with the Chairman, Managing Director, and other officers and officials of the corporation that work at the administrative level, including establishment, accounts, purchase sections of the corporation. However, some experts from tea estates and tea associations were also consulted to understand the setting of the tea cultivators and the worker communities.

In social science research, a case-based research methodology is an accepted approach that facilitates the exploration of a real issue within a defined context by using a variety of data sources [10]. This case study facilitates the exploration of a real issue within a defined context by using a variety of data sources. As the case study analyzes a defined problem consisting of a real situation and using real information as a methodological tool, hypotheses have not been used for the study [10]. This study aims to present the evolution of a state-owned corporation with a decade-long history of incurring financial losses into a profit-making organization without any significant infrastructural capacity augmentation or technology change. Many research studies have exemplified the use of cases as important research tools for offering critical strategic directions for the relevant players in the industry [11]. The case method enumerates a narrative of a solution, thus beginning at the ground level through action research rather than solely relying on statistical inferences. The case research method proves appropriate because this situation arises from a niche sector with limited research variables [12]. Previous studies have seen a wide application of case methods for management studies, sociology, and education [13,14].

A diagrammatic representation of the challenges faced by the PSU may be seen in Figure 1 below:

3. Results

3.1. Status of Tea Industry in Tripura

Around 6951 hectares of land in Tripura is covered under tea cultivation, constituting 54 operational tea gardens, among which 39 gardens are owned by individuals, 3 are run by the Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC), and 12 are operated under co-operative societies (see

Table 1. Position of Tea Estates in Tripura.

Sl. No.	Estates	Number
1	Tea Estates under Tripura Tea Development Corporation Ltd.	3
2	Co-operative Tea Factories	12
3	Private Tea Factories	39
	Total	54

Source: Collected from TTDC Ltd. (March 2022).

). Six tea estates are non-functional. Three estates, namely the Sonamukhi Tea Estate, Devastal Tea Estate, Hirachara Tea Estate, and Notingchara Tea Estate are periodically functional, and two estates, named the Kalyanpur and Malabati Tea Estates, are completely closed. Thus, the tea industry of the state rests on the 54 operational gardens as in Figure 2. Besides, Figure 3 shows number of Tea Factories as per ownership.

The state has 22 functional tea factories in total (see

Table 2. Position of functioning Tea Factories.

Sl. No.	Factories	Number
1	Tea Processing Factories under PSUs (TTDCLtd)	2
2	Co-operative Tea Factories	5
3	Private Tea Factories	15
	Total	22

Source: Collected from TTDC Ltd. (March 2022).

). The position of the tea factories across the state among the Government, co-operatives and the private players may be seen at Figure 2. Three tea processing factories, namely the Gopalnagar, Mahabir, and Dharmanagar Tea Factories, are totally closed.

After rubber, tea is the most organized industry in the state. The agro-climatic condition of the state, with an annual rainfall of about 2100 mm throughout the year, an average of 10 degrees Celsius to 35 degrees Celsius in temperature, and the fertile soil that does not contain any significant toxicities or deficiencies, is best suited for tea plantations.

More than 14,000 workers and employees are employed by these tea gardens and factories. A total of 2800 small growers cover 1409 hectares of tea plantations. The small tea growers produce about 8 million kgs of green leaves—out of the total of 45 million kgs of tea. Earlier, the yield of green leaf after drying was sent to the nearest auction center in Guwahati, the state capital of Assam.

3.2. Tripura Tea Industry in Flux: The Pertinent Problem

3.2.1. The System Dynamics

During any production process, the optimal capacity expansion/contraction (hereaftercalled management) of a facility that produces goods or performs services over an N-year planning horizon refers to System Dynamics, wherein the production or service capacity, control or decision, random demand for produce, and addition or removal of capacity plays a very significant role [15]. Any change in these factors may create a difference in the optimum production level. Again, the most prominent factors from the above are the demand augmentation and the reduction in capacity, whichcan affect production.

As far as the tea industry of Tripura is concerned, the domestic demand for tea has not appreciably increasedover the last thirty years, and, only recently, has the contribution of the Tripura tea industry to the state’s economy begun to thrive. Secondly, the industry has been relying on traditional tea growing skills and is currently undergoinga shift in farming practices; the industry has been undergoing significant changes by modernizing the practice of leaf processing. Further, environmental, social, policy, and market transitions have brought new risks, and have greatly affected the industry. While talking to experts on the tea estates, employee associations, and with the help of an extant literature review, four major areas of risk have been catalogued and categorized that pertain to our primary research on tea cultivators and worker communities.

Given that tea is a rain-fed perennial crop, its cultivation is subject to various types of natural and environmental risks of varying intensities. These risks often cause significant production upheavals. Some of these natural and environmental risks have been explored in detail below.

• Natural and Environmental Risk
  • Climate Change

Climate change has affected rainfall patterns, decreased the seasonal mean rainfall, and has increased extreme rainfall events in some places, such as 24-h rainfall events in some parts of the country [16]. Today, the tea industry’s major natural hazards are rising temperatures, erratic patterns of rainfall with periods of flooding—followed by periods of extreme drought—and the resultant changes in pest patterns.

From the mid-1990s, Tripura recorded an increase in temperature of 1.3 °C. Initially, the annual and maximum seasonal temperatures have been considerably above the ideal temperature range of 18 °C to 30 °C [17]; however, a steady increase in the average minimum temperature crossing 30 °C was recorded from 1995 onwards [18]. Studies found that temperature changes had no direct adverse impact on tea production, depicting some degree of self-adaptation to temperature changes. In a report published by the Tea Research Association (TRA), Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) [19], and Tata Global Beverages, the authors state that tea production could potentially move towards cooler climates and higher altitudes [20]. A probable decline in tea production by up to 40% by 2050 due to climate change in northeast India has been depicted by the Tea and Climate research collaboration between the University of Southampton and TRA, indicating the need for mitigation strategies to prevent such a scenario.

• b.

  Extreme Rainfall Patterns

Unpredictable and extreme rainfall patterns distort production patterns [18] and have significantly shortened cultivation periods from nine months to just seven months [21]. Past literature has also cited soil erosion and water logging during times of excessive rainfall, and improper drainage systems often result in the rotting of the roots of tea plants. This has resulted in a demand for subsidized irrigation schemes from the state government. Studies have indicated that drip irrigation is the most suitable and least expensive irrigation method for tea estates [18].

2

Market Risks

• Lack of Auction Center

The tea industry has faced several external market risks that have obstructed the financial growth of the industry in the long run. As a result, profits have been reduced, thereby narrowing the growers’ capacities to practice strategies that would increase worker benefits independently [22]. In addition, the Tripura tea industry always had a problem with auctioning tea as there was no auction center in the state. Interestingly, as the then ruler of the state, Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya, had a policy of not allowing British planters to buy land in his state, the tea gardens of Tripura were pioneered by Indian tea entrepreneurs [5]. Currently, the growers here depend on far away auction centers in Guwahati and Kolkata to sell their produce at an increasing cost. Before the 1965 war with Pakistan, the Chittagong auction center was used to export tea to neighboring nations. The war and subsequent rift in trade ties disrupted this arrangement. Thus, deliberately, the state faced the hurdle of sending the produce to the country’s main markets or exporting tea abroad without a tea auction center.

• b.

  Law, Policy and Regulation

The largest portion of tea estate costs includes the labor wages and benefits. If productivity and profits decline, it directly and seriously affects the wages of the estate owners [18]; however, the Plantation Labor Act (PLA) of 1951 [23] empowers the state government to take feasible steps to improve the welfare of labor and to regulate the conditions of workers on plantations, but it only applies to large tea estates and not small tea growers.

The PLA directs the state governments to standardize and improve worker welfare by modifying the terms of employment, wages, and living standards. Conversely, since workers are unaware of their legal rights, the prospects of the Act remain unused [24]. Currently, to check the prevailing situation, tea unions, associations, and bodies have joined with the policy framework of PLA to define land labor ratios. Regardless of market conditions, estates have to observe these guidelines, which were determined through a process of collective bargaining. Recently, the cash component of total wages has undergone significant revisions, resulting in growth in market prices.

• c.

  Community Development

Alternatives like ready-to-drink teas and other alternative beverages are shrinking the consumer base of tea in Tripura, thereby severely impacting education, sanitation, and health among the tea grower’s community. There is significant regulation around educational facilities for tea garden communities, but these regulations are poorly enforced. As per the PLA guidelines, 25 workers or more is the criteria for providing primary school facilities to children between 6 and 12 years old. These rules also stipulate that the student ratio cannot exceed 40:1.Though, these rules are reinforced in the Tripura Plantation Labour Rules 1954, the present educational development indices among the workers’ children do not reveal that. A study has shown that early marriage, nutritional deficiency, inadequate sanitation, and poor income are basic impediments to a better socioeconomic life among the tea growers [25].

The above discussed external changes, such as the natural and environmental risks; market risks due to the absence of auction centers within the state;and stagnant auction prices, law, policy, and regulation;as well as continuous price increases accompanied by system dynamics, heavy dependence on labor, lack of alternative jobs, etc., affect the human and community development of the tea growers.

3.2.2. The Economics of Production

The process of transforming inputs into finished products that can be sold as a good or service is called production. Production of any goods and services requires factors such as land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship. These factors facilitate the production process in stages to reach the hands of consumers.

First, “Land” refers to all the natural resources that can be found on the land. Considering the tea industry in the state, land is abundant. Secondly, the attempt or effort that individuals apply while producing a good or service refers to “Labor”. More than 14,000 workers and employees are engaged in this industry, which comprises small and big tea growers. Thirdly, “Capital”, or capital goods, refers to the cash for procuring the inputs that are required for the production of goods and services. For example, the machinery and equipment used for the processing of tea are industry capital goods and are available for the production of tea.

Fourthly, “Entrepreneurship” involves innovative ideas and putting these ideas into action by planning and organizing production. Entrepreneurs take up the risk of the business and identify the potentialities, and the income from the business is the profit. The tea industry has been suffering due to a lack of entrepreneurship. The major issues responsible for the poor performance of the tea industry have been identified as being due to a sluggish increase in productivity, slow growth of area under tea cultivation, low domestic demand, lack of capability to compete with major tea exporting states, loss of the traditional tea market, and lack of competition due to more attraction towards the domestic market compared to the international market.

Tripura is a landlocked state with an 85% common boundary with Bangladesh [26]. The surface connectivity has been almost nil since 2015; moreover, the industry, since its inception, has been subjected to militancy and, eventually, when insurgency in the state came to a standstill, the industry plummeted with chit fund issues and the result was poor production.

Only recently, from 2018–2019 onwards, the newly formed government in the state has been expediting the avenues for revival of the oldest surviving industry in the state. The government, through the Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC), has started taking steps towards building the capabilities needed to bundle, manage, and otherwise exploit resources in a manner that provides added value for the customer and creates an advantage over the competition. The resource-based theory also states that strategic resources can provide a foundation for developing firm capabilities that can lead to a superior performance overtime [27].Thus, keeping the valuable, inimitable, and non-substitutable resources such as land, labour, and capital in their best position can earn the firm long-term success and maximize its value for its stakeholders; to this end, strategies such as the promotion of state tea, introduction of a logo, brand identification, distribution, demand fulfillment, and selling activities were adopted by the TTDC to turn the loss-making industry into a profit-making industry.

Again, Freeman’s stakeholder’s theory stresses the interconnected relationships in business with its stakeholders, including the customers, suppliers, employees, investors, communities, and others who have a stake in the organization [28]. The theory argues that a firm should create value for all stakeholders and not just the shareholders. With newer production and promotional strategies, the TTDC not only aims to earn firm success, but as the stakeholder’s theory suggests, it also tries to benefit all its stakeholders in the industry for sustainable and long-term success.

3.3. The Turnaround Strategy

Tripura is currently producing about 9–10 million kg of tea (‘made tea’) annually, which is around 10% of the ‘made tea’ in India, making it the fifth major producer among the tea-producing states in India. Tripureswari tea (made tea) is a high-quality tea;however, green tea and organic tea manufacturing is also a new area of importance with a substantial scope for investment in the state.

For a long time, the state found it difficult to transport ‘made tea’ through the tea auction markets at Siliguri or Kolkata. The initiation of the present government towards exporting tea through the Srimangal tea auction center in Bangladesh, which is a few kilometers away from Kailashahar in UnakotiDistrict is expected to open new prospects for the industry in the state, and the matter was taken up with the Bangladesh Government by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Besides India, a huge quantity of tea is imported from other tea-growing countries by Bangladesh. By studying this in hopes of heralding good days for the industry, the government in Tripura is encouraging green tea cultivation. Currently, the state produces 9 million kgs of tea, mainly consisting of green and made tea (Tripureswaritea) varieties. Around 45 million kgs of green leaves are produced in Tripura by big and small growers.

Table 3. The position of production of tea in Tripura and its domestic consumption during the last 5 years under TTDC Ltd. Amount in lacs kgs.

Year	2016–2017	2017–2018	2018–2019	2019–2020	2020–2021
Green Leaves Production	14.31	15.40	15.56	16.50	15.19
Made Tea Production	2.00	1.72	2.98	4.04	7.35
Total Production in Tea	16.31	17.12	18.54	20.54	22.54
Total Domestic consumption	0.7% of total production

Source: Collected from TTDC Ltd. (March 2022).

shows that over the past five years (2016 to 2021) there has been a consistent increase in the production of tea in the state. Alongside green tea, the made tea production has also increased and at much higher ratesover the last three years—by 3.31 lac kgs to be specific. The Brahmakunda Tea Factory (Simna) has been leased by the corporation to a local entrepreneur for four years;their production volume was 100,600 kg per year. In 2020, the same factory under the direct management of the corporation produced 290,000 kg of made tea that year thereby depicting a steep rise in the total production of Tea as in Figure 4.

Domestic consumption is 0.7% of the total production, which is very low for fetching higher rates in the auction markets. Tea was mostly dependent on auction markets. Recently, due to the quality of tea under the direct supervision of TTDC Ltd., Tripura tea fetched the highest price of 274 INR per kg in the Kolkata auction market in 2020. This is a landmark event in the history of the corporation. Furthermore, the Tripura Tea Development Corporation has been trying to increase domestic consumption.

In 2021, the state government also made efforts with the Union Ministry to include Tripura in the INR 1000 crore welfare scheme for the tea industry, as indicated in the case of Assam and West Bengal; moreover, the 10% proposed outlay would benefit the state and its oldest surviving industry.

‘Made tea’ is also known to have immense health benefits, given that it is rich in antioxidants that help prevent cancer and keep the body hydrated and moisturized. Moreover, ‘made tea’ is processed within 10 days of plucking the leaves. Thus, the tea is packed and made available in the market for consumption within 10 days of being plucked, which means that a good quantity of antioxidants is retained in the tea.

TTDC has installed two modern, high-quality packeting machines in the Durgabari tea processing factory, thereby producing 1500 packets per hour. Good packeting givesthe tea an attractive appeal and has also contributed to long-term retention of the tea’s quality.

3.3.1. Brand Identification for Tripura Tea

Tea is a highly economic product for countries like China, Korea, Tibet, and a few Indian states, such as Kerala, Assam, West Bengal, and Tripura. Tripura has maintained its plantation for a century [29]. Unlike other states, the tea plantations started under the patronage of the then king, who did not allow European planters to grow tea in the state; rather, the plantation activities were performed by a group of locals from Mahatma Gandhi’s non-co-operation movement [5]. Although the geographical location of the state is suitable for tea plantation, since the state is landlocked, it suffers from various economic constraints and the marketing opportunities for the tea gardens have been weak, thereby depriving the tea growers from mainstreamsociety [26,30]. Although the state has been producing good quality tea, there have been a number of reasons for the improper settlement of the tea industry in the state. One such identified reason is the lack of brand identity for this product.

During 2019, the Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) named the tea made in their factory as “Tripureswari Tea” and the tea now has a logo to generate recognition in the national and global market. TTDC tea has fetched the highest average price of 177 INR/kg of tea; moreover, steps have been initiated to set up more tea processing factories for green tea, orthodox tea, and CTC tea. To capture the local choice and market, TTDC has recently started distributing and selling Tripureswaritea packets through the Public Distribution System (PDS).

3.3.2. Distribution Strategy and Demand Fulfillment

As a strategy to increase the demand for Tripureswaritea and, at the same time, to increase the visibility of the product in the state, 100–250 g of packed tea is being distributed all over the state through the PDS system in collaboration with the Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs Department of the Government of Tripura. This represents the extra demand from the market that must be directly met.

Co-operative societies, such as the Large-sized Adivasi Multipurpose Society (LAMPS) and the Primary Agriculture Credit Society (PACS), have also been encouraged with a service charge of 8 INR per kilogram of tea. Through co-operative societies, the product has reached marginal communities, and it is also being supplied to public offices. In 2019, the Council of Ministers in Tripura amended the Tripura Land Record and Land Reform Act, which allowed a maximum of 5% of the total unused land from tea estate to be developed into ecotourism infrastructure for revenue-generating activities [31].

3.3.3. Selling Activities

In 2018, the Tripura Tea Development Corporation opened up a “Tea Corner” on the premises of the Bir Chandra State Central Library with the objective of popularizing the tea among the local patrons. Apart from this, the readers in the library get an opportunity to sip a cup of tea that is free of cost and get to enjoy the flavor of locally produced tea. Very recently, the Tea Board of India has provided financial assistance for the modernization and upgrading of the Tea Corner, thereby turning into a Tea Boutique.

As a tea tourism initiative, the TTDC has developed the Kamalasagar Tea Garden into a tourist spot. The Tourism Department has initiated the development of log huts, a kids’ playground, car parking, boat riding, and modern picnic spots, all with available facilities to attract tourists from all over the country. The Tripura Tourism Department has also prepared a DPR of INR 35 million and submitted it to the Northeast Council (NEC) to set up a ‘Tea Museum’ at the DurgabariTea Factory, which is run by TTDC Ltd. A small model tea garden has been developed on the premises of the Governor’s House—Raj Bhavan—for the purpose of depicting the prominence of the industry in the state to eminent persons who come to visit him from different parts of the country.

During 2020, the “Run for India Tea” was organized in collaboration between the TTDC and Tea Board of India (TBI) in Tripura. The event was organized to further promote and popularize Tripura tea alongside India tea to boost the tea industry in the state. The “Run for India Tea” event was followed by a colorful tableau procession that featured participation from a large number of tea workers wearing traditional dresses.

These initiatives have provided a new spirit to the industry and its functioning. The state government’s focus towards the industry, its importance for the state, as well as the Chief of the State himself endorsing the local product (Tripureswaritea) has motivated the workers and employees in the tea industry to plan and organize innovative ideas for production. Some potential opportunities have now been identified, and the industry is taking up the risk of business for earning profit.

3.3.4. Tea in Convergence with MGNREGS

Tea plantation has been brought within the scope of permissible works under MGNREGS as a livelihood-securing activity [32]. In accordance with MGNREGS guidelines, 325 acres of land have been allocated for tea plantation from 2018–2019 to 2020–2021 in different districts under the supervision of the TTDC. A total of 172 people, including 3 co-operatives, have benefitted from being engaged in tea plantation.

3.3.5. Financial Growth from Tea by the Tripura Tea Development Corporation Ltd.

The corporation has experienced tremendous growth in sales revenue over the last 5 years from 2016-2017 onwards as may be seen in

Table 4. Increase in sales revenue over the last five years (In Crores).

Year	Sales Revenue (In INR)
2016–2017	4 Crore 09 lakh 61 thousand
2017–2018	3 Crore 64 lakh 87 thousand
2018–2019	5 Crore 46 lakh 38 thousand
2019–2020	5 Crore 46 lakh 73 thousand
2020–2021	10 Crore 50 lakh 75 thousand

Source: Collected from TTDC Ltd. (March 2022).

. Figure 5 shows the highest growth during 2020–2021.

4. Findings and Discussion

When the Tripura Tea Development Corporation took over responsibility, the corporation’s income was so low that the full amount of its shared capital was exhausted by paying the salaries and allowances of the employees.

Table 5. Profit and Loss Statement (2016–2021) (In Crores).

Financial Year	Revenue	Expenditure	Profit/Loss
2016–2017	58,687,141	79,484,176	20,797,035 (L)
2017–2018	65,259,868	83,529,614	18,269,746 (L)
2018–2019	85,847,698	68,297,698	17,550,000
2019–2020	54,673,000	35,648,000	19,025,000
2020–2021	105,075,000	84,010,000	21,065,000

Source: Collected from TTDC Ltd. (March 2022).

and

Table 6. Amount of Operational Profit of the corporation over last three years (In Crores).

Year	Operational Profit
2018–2019	1 Crore 75 lakh 50 thousand
2019–2020	1 Crore 90 lakh 25 thousand
2020–2021	2 Crore 10 lakh 65 thousand

Source: Collected from TTDC Ltd. (March 2022).

show the profit and loss statement of 2016-2021 as well as the mount of operational profit of the corporation over last three years. With the new initiatives in hand, only a fraction of the money received from the government as shared capital was spent on salaries and allowances for the employees, and the rest was used to buy machinery and equipment, refurbish factory, and develop infrastructure.

The dividends were used for an extensive renovation of workers’ quarters, thus giving them a quality living space, and which, in turn, helps to keep them motivated towards their work. The healthcare and medication of the workers are activities that have been prioritized as an operational activity of the shared capital [33].

Due to increase in overall profit as depicted in Figure 6 and Figure 7, the corporation could increase the workers’ wages even during the pandemic conditions. The corporation has increased the cash wages of the workers from INR 105 to 131. The salaries of the plantation staff and employees have been increased by 17%of the basic pay, with the pay increase having gone into effect in December 2019. The increased prices have also been adopted by different privately owned and co-operative tea gardens. Thus, the opening up of prospects for the sustainable development of the tea industry was likely due to the strategies employed by the state government as in Figure 8 through its corporation, TTDC Ltd. [34].

The Tripura government has announced a special scheme named, Mukhyamantri Chaa Shramik Kalyan Prakalpa (Chief Minister Tea Worker Welfare Scheme), to ensure the social security of over 7000 tea workers. This includes land for growers to construct housing, allot land of now defunct tea gardens on a lease basis throughco-operatives, and provide drinking water, electricity, shelter, education, and healthcare facilities to each and every family, as well as providing priority ration cards, pre-primary to higher secondary school, social pensions, maternal and child health care, health insurance facilities as per ability, and supportive appliances for handicapped persons [35]. The government’s exchequer set the expenses for the implementation of this scheme as INR 85 crores.

5. Conclusions

As future endeavors (a) TTDC plans to participate in the Srimangal auctions in Bangladesh, as well as Assam and Darjeeling;(b) lofty plans to enhance Internal Revenue Generation through tea tourism and staycations in TTDC-owned Tea Gardens are also in the work; and(c) Tripureswaritea is slowly and steadily flourishing in the national market, and a premium category is in the works.

These areas also serve as prospects for future research since the industry does not have its own auction center; a synergy between rural tourism, tea tourism, and wellness tourism still needs to be explored and established in order to improve the revenue generation from tea, which is expected to pave the path for the future sustainability of the tea industry in the state. As previously discussed, tea has enormous health benefits, and therefore, there is a vast scope for researchers in food processing and health to investigate its potential as an antioxidant and antimicrobial agent [34].

Over the last 75 years, since India’s independence, the tea industry, and its people, haveseen no reforms. The new development initiatives for the tea industry have boosted the sales revenue and operational profitsto such a level that the tea industry and, in particular, Tripureswaritea are prospering slowly and steadily in the national market and with all hope that the industry will be visible in the international tea market in the near future [36]. Thus, keeping all the strategic resources that is land, labour, and capital unchanged, and by instilling entrepreneurship traits into the business, the present government through the TTDC has acted as a game changer, profitably earning value for all its stakeholders and turning around the present and future of the tea industry in the state of Tripura.