The Government has allocated an additional Rs. 237 million to accelerate the implementation of its ‘Ceylon Tea Village’ project, which aims to establish 500 tea villages across the country.The decision was announced at a meeting chaired by Plantation and Community Infrastructure Minister Samantha Vidyarathna on Tuesday (28) to review the implementation and expansion of the program.

The project, launched on July 15, is part of the Government’s plan to increase Sri Lanka’s made tea production to 400 million kilograms’ and tea export earnings to US$2.5 billion by 2030.The additional allocation includes Rs. 68 million for the Small Tea Estate Development Authority to establish demonstration tea cultivations in the first 144 tea villages, while Rs. 169 million will be provided through the Ministry of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment to establish quality tea nurseries.The Ministry said 144 tea villages have already been launched islandwide, with each village expected to establish a tea nursery and a model cultivation plot.To oversee the program the Ministry has also introduced a three-tier committee system comprising national, regional and village-level committees to coordinate implementation