Harrisons Malayalam opens new tea factory in Kerala

With the new plant, set up at an investment of Rs.6 crore, the company's capacity will go up to 3.7 million kg from 3.5 million kg now, officials said.
The new plant is capable of processing CTC (crush, tear and curl) tea and is fully automated.
"HML hopes these efficiency improvements will also help partially to offset the cost escalation due to the wage increase in the last wage settlement," said Pankaj Kapoor, managing director of the company.
HML is part of RPG Enterprises, which has interests in diverse areas like tyre, power transmission, telecommunication, retail, consumer marketing and entertainment.
Company officials said HML made huge investments in recent years for infilling, replanting and modernising factories even though the industry was battling a financial crisis.  
These investments will not only rejuvenate the company, but also provide job opportunities to the rural population, said N. Dharmaraj, vice-president of HML tea division.