KITCO to design ambitious tea trade centre

KOCHI: Public sector consultancy organisation KITCO may be entrusted with the task of designing the integrated building complex for the proposed Cochin Tea Trade Centre in Willingdon Island. The proposal was cleared in a meeting of the Cochin port’s board of trustees in March.The international tea trade centre project was proposed by Cochin Port Trust as part of the plan for optimum utilisation of land in Willingdon island. The port management had earlier submitted the proposal to the union ministry of commerce.The port management aims to turn Willingdon Island into a major hub for tea trade by bringing all the trade-related activities under one roof, along the same line as the Dubai Tea Trading Centre, where 10 million kg of tea is traded annually.“As of now, the tea trading activities at the Willingdon Island are scattered at several locations. Bringing them together will give a new impetus and image to Willingdon Island as a tea trading hub with Kerala accounting for a substantial quantity of tea annually,” said the port authorities.There are six brokers and 192 buyers involved in the tea trading activities.The Commerce Ministry has expressed its willingness to provide 50 per cent subsidy under the ASIDE (Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development and Exports) scheme.