AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

NT Bureau
Udhagamandalam, Feb 4:

        State Khadi Minister K Ramachandran inaugurated the two-day 'Tea and Tourism-2007' festival at Breeks HADP Open Air Stadium, yesterday.

        Speaking on the occasion, Ramachandran said the festival was organised to boost the economic upliftment of tea growers and also bring good business to the local people through tourists.

        The Tea Board's Southern Regional Executive Director, Nadeem said the tea industry in South was facing price slump due to bad quality of production. After enforcing strict quality control methods, the industry is now showing upwards trends in prices, he added.

        He said at the recently conducted exhibition in US, Nilgiri Tea was received well with high price. 'We are planning to take Nilgiri Tea to Atlanta and Dubai', he said.

        Later, on the occasion, Toda, Kotha and Badaga folk dances were performed. There were 20 exhibition stalls put up at the festival.

        Free tea sachets carrying the logo and the theme were distributed to the visitors. A special trip on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) from Udhagamandalam to Coonoor was organized with the help of the Nilgiri Heritage Steam Chariot Trust.

        Nilgiris Collector Santosh K Misra was also present on the occasion.