A case study of a tea factory situated in the Wayanad district of Kerala and run by the tribals has been presented. The output, income, employment and profit and loss of the factory have been studied for the period 1995–96 to 2000–01. The year 2000–01 has shown the highest output of 1924.6 tonnes. The gross income has been found to have increased from Rs 137.4 lakhs in 1995–96 to Rs 440.2 lakhs in 1997–98, and has shown a steady decline till 2000–01. The correlation between output and income is not only low but negative also. The correlation between income and employment is also low which shows that there is a high degree of labour inefficiency in the factory. The capacity utilization of the factory has been worked out to be 89 per cent. The establishment of the factory has brought about a sea change in the development of the rural area. Not only the infrastructural facilities like roads, etc. have improved, there has been an overall social upliftment of the tribals in the district.
