The Nilgiris Tea Development Foundation, which consists of micro and small tea growers from The Nilgiris, plans to set up a Tea Park in Coimbatore on about five acres.

H.N. Sivan, chairman of the foundation, told The Hindu that the park will have facilities to blend, grade, weigh and pack the teas.

The primary production will be at the tea gardens in The Nilgiris. This will be brought to the central processing unit at the park.

All the teas will be blended and graded (automatic). The packed tea will be sent to the Ooty Fresh tea points across the State.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs. 10 crore. The Tea Board has provision to provide 40 per cent subsidy for the proposal.

The land will be finalised soon, he said.

Of the 65,000 micro and small tea growers in The Nilgiris, nearly 2,000 are expected to be part of the Tea Park project in the next 12 months. Apart from the tea points, customers can taste the teas at the park and buy it at the park and also place orders online, when the project is commissioned.

In the next one year, the foundation plans to set up Ooty Fresh tea points across the State. Already there are about 50 requests from different parts of the State for setting up tea points.
These will be mainly in the colleges and on the Highways.

The project will benefit the farmers by giving them better realisation for the tea leaf, he said.