Guwahati: Tea plantation owners have sought discussions with the Assam government to address legal and financial concerns arising from the amended Land Ceiling Act, which provides for granting land rights to workers for housing within tea garden areas.
Industry representatives said the tea companies support the government’s intent to improve housing security for workers but want clarity on several issues before the law is implemented on the ground.
Planters have flagged potential legal complications, financial liabilities and long-term implications for estate management if land ownership within gardens is transferred without adequate safeguards.
The Consultative Committee of Plantation Associations (CCPA), an umbrella body of tea producers, has written to the state government outlining the challenges associated with permanent transfer of land in labour lines.
The association has stressed that estate managements are not opposed to transferring land occupied by labour quarters, but have sought consultations to resolve what they describe as unresolved legal and operational hurdles.
According to the planters’ body, tea estate employers are legally bound to provide housing and welfare facilities to workers under existing labour laws.
As long as these obligations remain in force, the land in labour colonies would need to stay under management control, the CCPA said.
The association pointed out that construction of houses under schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in tea gardens is currently permitted through no-objection certificates issued by estate managements, a system developed in coordination with the state labour department in 2017.
However, these permissions do not involve transfer of ownership.
Tea producers have also raised concerns that large portions of tea garden land, including labour colonies, are mortgaged to banks as collateral.
Any dilution or transfer of such land would require approval from lending institutions, potentially creating complex financial and legal challenges.
The CCPA further cautioned that granting ‘patta’ would confer heritable and transferable rights, making it difficult to prevent future sale or purchase of land within tea estates, which could affect the contiguity and integrity of garden areas.
Tea Association of India (TAI) president Sandeep Singhania said these issues need to be addressed through dialogue before implementation of the amended law.
Speaking earlier at a planters’ meeting, he noted that the Land Ceiling Act deals with land ownership and does not account for compensation for structures such as labour quarters built by companies, which would require separate consideration under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Singhania also highlighted that under central labour laws, including the Plantations Labour Act, now subsumed into the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, managements remain responsible for providing housing and amenities.
He argued that transferring land ownership alone would not absolve employers of these statutory duties unless the law is amended.
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Assam has around 825 tea estates, with labour colonies spread over more than 2.18 lakh bighas, and the amended Act is expected to benefit over 14 lakh people.
The legislation was passed by the Assam Assembly in November 2025.
Reacting to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s recent warning that state incentives to tea gardens could be reconsidered if owners oppose land rights for workers, industry sources said it would be inappropriate to link the two issues.
They maintained that incentives are granted under separate schemes with defined eligibility criteria and should not be tied to the Land Ceiling Act.
The chief minister has said the land acquisition process has already begun and that workers will be given ownership rights, adding that the state provides incentives worth around Rs 150 crore annually to tea gardens and may reconsider them if obstacles are created in implementing the law.
