The Hindu Business Line : Participatory management model a great success in Munnar: Ratan Tata

Munnar, Nov. 6 The participatory management model adopted by the Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Company in Munnar has been a great success, said Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons.

“I am very proud that we have given it (the company) to the workers and employees instead of selling it, as some other entrepreneurs would have done,” said Mr Tata while speaking on the sidelines of the silver jubilee celebrations of Tata Tea’s High Range School in Munnar.

“The workers and employees have operated it successfully and profitably, making it a win-win situation for everyone.”

When asked if the successful model was being replicated in other centres, Mr R.K. Krishna Kumar, Vice-Chairman of Tata Tea and Indian Hotels, said the model was being extended to Tata Tea’s North Indian plantations. The project was being implemented over the past one year and it is just stabilising. “Much like this, but they are much larger operations in scale in Assam and West Bengal,” he said.

Coffee plantations

The management of the Kanan Devan Hills Plantation Company was handed over to the workers. Tata Tea retains 19 per cent stake in the company.

Tata Tea, which is the largest manufacturer of Assam tea and Darjeeling tea, is moving out of plantations operations. As far as the plantations operations of Tata Coffee are concerned, no particular policy has been finalised but various options are being explored.

The company, however, plans to retain its holdings in overseas plantation operations, mainly in the Watawala plantations of Sri Lanka.

Tata Tea is the second largest manufacturer of Ceylon tea. Almost 41 per cent of the 12,442-hectare Watawala plantations is under tea, 18 per cent is under rubber, 8 per cent is under oil palm and the remaining is under fuel wood.

The Watawala plantations, which owns the only oil palm factory in Sri Lanka, is also exploring the possibility of acquiring oil palm plantations in Indonesia.

While Tata Tea does not have any plans to acquire large overseas plantations, the Kanan Devan Hills Plantation Company has received invitations from the governments of Ethiopia and Uganda to set up and manage large plantations there.

It is up to Kanan Devan to assess the challenges and opportunities and determine how best to go about such projects, Mr Krishna Kumar added.

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