Tea exports easing up, says Industry Minister

Kathmandu, May 27: Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Gauri Kumari has said that progress has been made towards addressing the problems faced in tea exports to India.     

Responding to the queries raised by lawmakers during the zero, emergency and special hours of the House of Representatives meeting on issues related to the ministry earlier today, she said that discussions have been held with the concerned ministries of India through the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi towards facilitating the process of resuming export of tea to India. Efforts are also being made to facilitate the export of tea from Nepal to other countries via India.     

Discussions were also held with the Tea Development Board on May 11 regarding the problems related to this and the efforts being made to resolve them. On the occasion, the Industry Minister also shared that 80 to 90 percent of tea exports are made to India. Nepal produces 26.1 million kg of tea annually.     

On another note, she also said that the Department of Customs has been assigned the responsibility of maintaining the maximum retail price (MRP) of consumer goods.     

Work has been progressing on the relocation of industries in the Lumbini area as per the order of the Supreme Court, she added.     

It may be noted that the Supreme Court had issued an order in the name of the concerned government authorities to relocate industries located within an area of 15 km from Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha, listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List.(RSS)