Cup of hope: Stalin flags off tea vending vehicles

“The tea vending vehicles will provide employment to people living in hilly regions and help in improving their livelihood. The vehicles will also help in the marketing of other products sold by Indcoserve,” said Stalin, after flagging off the vehicles.

Indcoserve, established in 1965 in Coonoor, is the largest tea cooperative federation in the country with 30,000 small farmers manufacturing 14 million kgs of black tea annually. To make the brand more familiar, the State government has decided to sell the products of Indcoserve along with the tea through tea vending machines fitted in the vehicles.

The state government has purchased 20 vehicles fitted with tea vending machines at a total cost of Rs 3 crore. The tea vending vehicles will be operated in Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirupur, and The Nilgiris. “All the Indcoserve products are cent percent natural and along with tea products, like coffee and snacks will also be available in the tea vending vehicles,” said Stalin.

The Chief Minister also handed over the approval letter for the CSR fund of Rs 19.98 lakh to the KeyStone Foundation working for the upliftment of tribals in the Kotagiri region. Through this fund, training in the organic cultivation of tea plants and avoiding the use of chemicals at all stages of tea production will be given to 640 small tea farmers.

He also inaugurated a building constructed at a cost of Rs 5 crore for town and country planning authority in Madurai, through video conferencing from the Secretariat.