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The Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB) has urged the government to put on hold entire works of two proposed projects for tea cultivation extension - due to lack of sufficient fund to implement the projects, officials said.
The board has recently requested the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) to take necessary steps to this end.
"We have recently received a letter from the BTB. We are working in this regard," an official of the MoC said.
The two proposed projects are: 'Greater Mymensingh District Small Scale Tea Expansion' and 'Extension of Tea Cultivation in Chattagram Hill Tracts'.
Officials concerned said the BTB, as a statutory body, has to bear its expenditure from own sources. The main source of the board's income is 1.0 per cent tea cess.
Operational cost of the BTB has now increased more due to various reasons, including rise in its staffs' wages and allowance, development and research works cost, and small-scale tea cultivation expansion cost etc. But, the tea cess rate has remained fixed at 1.0 per cent.
For this, extra fund is not available after meeting the board's annual operational cost. The BTB has no capacity to take and implement new projects with own funds, they added.
The board sent a development project proposal (DPP) for the proposed 'Greater Mymensingh District Small Scale Tea Expansion Project' at a cost of Tk 744.7 million to the MoC for approval.
But, the ministry asked the board to follow the 'Lending and Relending Terms for Public Investment' policy (debt-equity ratio 67-33 per cent or 60-40 per cent) in taking any new project.
Due to lack of financial capacity to take the project with own fund, the board sent a new DPP, involving a cost of Tk 59.8 million.
Meanwhile, the BTB's 7th steering committee meeting suggested two years extension of 'Eradication of Rural Poverty by Extension of Small Holding Tea Cultivation in Lalmonirhat' project.
Only Tk 60 million will remain in its fund after providing necessary support for implementing the project for the extended two years.
It will be difficult to continue the progress of the proposed 'Mymensingh District Small Scale Tea Expansion Project', if it is initially started with the Tk 60 million.
On the other hand, the BTB sent a DPP for 'Extension of Tea Cultivation in Chattagram Hill Tracts', involving a cost of Tk 712.7 million, to the MoC for approval.