INCOSERVE:
TEA is the mainstay of the economy of the Nilgiris. There are many big Tea Estates run on commercial basts by Private Companies. Apart from these big estates the special feature of the Nilgiris is the existence of small tea gardens ranging from 1 acre to 5 acres owned by individual and marginal farmers. There are about 30 000 small tea growers holding tea gardens to the extent of 40,000 acres. These small tea growers are economically weak and as such they are not in a position to follow modem practices of tea cultivation and get the maximum economic These small tea growers am economically weak and as such they arc not in a position to follow modem practices of tea cultivation and get the maximum economic benefits thereof. Individually they an not in a position to establish tea factories on their own to process green tea leaves of their garden into made tea and market the tea to their best advantage. About 30 years ago the small marginal tea growers were totally dependent upon the Pnvate Bought Leaf Factories. They green tea leaves of the small tea growers were sold to these private factories at very low rates. Further the small tea growers did not have a ready market for their entire green tea leaves, particularly in rush seasons. In order to help the small growers, the first Industrial Co-operative Tea Factory was set up in 1963 at Kundah. This experiment provided a great success and hence there was demand for organizing more Industrail Co-operative Tea Factories from the small tea growers from other areas of the Nilgiris. Today there are 17 Industrial Co- operative Tea Factories with an installed capacity of over 160 lakh kgs. of made tea The small tea growers who were getting very low prices for their green leaves are now getting good price.
To-day the Indcoserve and Industrial Cooperative Tea Factories are the largest producers and sellers of tea in Nilgiris, Commanding 17% of total production,. The Indcoserve provides various services to the Industrial Cooperative Tea Factories such as warehousing facilities at Coonoor, Coimbatore and Cochin, supply of fertilizers, supply of jute bags for packing of tea, machinery spares, and other inputs to the small tea grower members through the Indco tea factories besides helping to market the tea of the factories to their best advantage. Indcoserve also provides financial support to the member Indco Tea Factories, besides rendering marketing assistants to sell the tea produced by them.
Indco Tea Factories: The Indco tea factories were organized with an object of paying a reasonable and remunerative price to the small tea growers for their green tea leaves. Presently, there are 15 Industrial Cooperative Tea Factories with a membership of 19729 functioning in Nilgiris District. Considering the slump in the tea market, the Honorable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu introduced the "OOTY TEA" on 28.8.2001 for distribution of tea through Public Distribution System, so as to stabilize the price of Green Tea leaves for Small tea growers. Under this scheme the Indcoserve purchases made tea from auction centers and market it through fair price shops under the control of Registrar of Cooperatives and Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation. In order to eliminate the short comings and deficiencies in the existing conventional auction centres, to ensure transparency in sale of tea through auction and to ensure better price to the Small Tea Growers, a new Electronic Tea Auction Center at Coonoor under Cooperative fold called "Tea Serve" ."Tea Serve" was inaugurated by the Honorable Chief Minister on 13.9.2003.
TEASERVE – A Cooperative Federation of Small Tea Growers
In acceding to the representation made by the Small Tea Growers of the Nilgiris District, the Government accorded permission for setting up of an Electronic Tea Auction Centre vide G.O. MS No.36, Small Industries Department, dated 16.07.2002. Accordingly the new Tea Auction Centre under Cooperative sector in the name of “TEA MANUFACTURERS’ SERVICE INDUSTRIAL COOPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED, shortly called as “TEASERVE” was Registered on 28.08.2002 and started on 13.09.2002 at Coonoor in the Nilgiris District. The TEASERVE commenced its Electronic Auction proceedings with effect from 01.10.2003. As the entire Auction proceedings of the TEASERVE are computerized, the exploitation of middleman is avoided and the registered buyers alone could participate in the electronic auction proceeding.The TEASERVE have 167 Seller Members on its roll with a paid up share capital of Rs.13.35 Lakhs, which includes the Government Share Participation of Rs.5.00 Lakhs.
The details of the sector-wise tea factories enrolled as Seller Members in TEASERVE are as follows:
I Indco Tea Factories 16
II Private Bought Leaf Tea Factorie 133
III Private Estate Factories 16
IV TANTEA 1
V Government of Tamilnadu 1 Total 167