New Delhi, Nov. 11: There’s some good news for tea growers.

In a bid to sharpen the Indian edge in the global tea industry, the Centre is considering a Rs 4,000-crore plan to rejuvenate tea plantations across the country.

The special tea rejuvenation programme, to be run by the Tea Board of India, will go to the cabinet for approval this month. The programme’s thrust area will be the Assam valley —more than half the funds will be spent in this region.

Over the next five to seven years, the Centre plans to spend Rs 2,137.01 crore on 81,815 hectares of tea plantations in Assam. In the Cachar hills, Rs 337.32 crore is to be allocated for 16,155 hectares.

For replantation and rejuvenation, tea growers will be given a 25 per cent subsidy and 50 per cent of the sum through low interest loans, official sources said. The remaining 25 per cent will have to be contributed by the farmer.

Indian tea has been facing tough competition from Sri Lanka and Kenya. As leaves plucked from younger plants produces a better brew, the government has decided to rejuvenate the plantations by replanting saplings across the country, sources said.

“Vietnamese variety has an edge over the produce from Kerala as the plants there are younger,” a senior commerce ministry official said.

Industry sources said the quantity of tea imported from Vietnam by India this year was considerably higher than last year. Minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh has visited Guwahati at least twice to discuss the modalities of the programme.

“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also quite intent on the rejuvenation programme,” Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

Incidentally, the tea industry did not claim the Rs 40-crore earmarked for it in the Tenth Five Year Plan.