Thaindian News

Shimla, May 8 (IANS) With assistance from the central government, a spice park will be set up in Himachal Pradesh, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said Saturday.
“Under ASIDE (assistance to states for developing export infrastructure and allied activities) scheme, a spice park would be set up in Nadaun in Hamirpur district on 10 hectares with an investment of Rs.27 crore. This would be the first such park in north India,” Sharma told reporters here.

The spice park will have processing units in Shimla and Sirmaur districts, he said.

“The spice park would buy the species from local areas. It would promote contract farming. Special purpose funds for replanting and rejuvenation of some species would be provided to the growers to improve the quality of the spices produced by them,” he said.

To revive the tea industry in Kangra, the central government has decided to set up the regional office of the Tea Board of India in Palampur town.

“The focus should now be to grow green orthodox tea and market it as a pure organic green tea brand in foreign shores by using Geographical Indications (GI),” he said.

The Tea Board of India would also provide subsidy to the growers for replantation and help in obtaining patent and adopting new strategies, he said.

“Tea plantation on around 10,000 hectares will be rejuvenated,” added Sharma.

Horticulture experts here say tea production in Kangra has seen a massive fall in the past 15 years as only small producers with an average holding of around 0.6 acres are engaged in tea plantation.