Guwahati: A Christian church in India's North East is poised to make inroads into the tea business to create employment for tribal people.

The 'Partnership Mission Society' which belongs to the Presbyterian Church will soon take over the reins of a medium-sized tea plantation in Southern Assam's Cachar district.

"We want to be self-reliant and with the income that we hope to generate by running the tea garden we will help poor tribal people living in the area," said Kh Thangdailo, director of the 'Partnership Mission Society' based in Manipur.

The society, which already runs schools and hospitals, said it had offered to buy the cash-strapped tea estate so that it could find jobs for impoverished Christian Hmar tribals.

The proprietors had put the tea estate on the market for Rs 8 million after tea prices crashed in the weekly auctions.

Since the beginning of 2002, a kilogram of top quality Assam tea has been selling for at least Rs 12-15 less at weekly auctions than it did three years ago.

India is the world's largest tea producer and accounts for more than 30 per cent of global tea production, but its growers have been losing out on the global market.