CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation Limited (TANTEA) has an accumulated loss of Rs 222.69 crore as on March 31, 2021, a CAG report said.
Although 2020-21 was an exceptional year with TANTEA clocking a profit of Rs 8 crore, probably for the first time in several years owing to unusual demand for tea coupled with an increase in price during the pandemic, the company incurred a loss of Rs 38.57 crore in 2021-22.
TANTEA manages 4,053 hectares of plantations and six tea factories with an installed capacity of 120 lakh kilograms per annum.
The report said the overall performance of the company remained questionable with several operational issues, including delay in the modernisation of tea factories. The state government sanctioned Rs 16.72 crore to upgrade and modernise of all its six factories. Out of 42 machineries ordered, only 13 have been supplied so far.
Also, the company's poor yield of green tea leaves per hectare in Nilgiris, Wayanad and Anamalai regions were below district average resulting in a loss of Rs 99.14 crore. TANTEA also procured poor-quality green tea leaves from a private party for its two factories -- Tiger Hill and Quinshola. All this resulted in the production of second-grade 'Made Tea', which resulted in a lower price for the company's products compared to the nearest private tea estate.
The report also said Arasu Rubber Corporation is seeing a decline in production. The CAG recommended the government to set up an expert committee to identify ways to revive these PSUs or shut them down.
The government has leased out 96,877 sq.ft of forest land from Betlagundu to Kodaikanal to Reliance Jio at 1% rather than 12.5%. The incorrect adoption of the rate of lease rent resulted in a short levy of lease rent of Rs 2.67 cr for 20 years, the report said.
However, the government has said that Reliance Jio was mistaken as a welfare measure rather than commercial activity. "Action is being taken to recover the due balance," the government told CAG.