Guwahati: A rare variety of Assam tea has fetched a whopping Rs 99,999 per kg during an auction here on Tuesday. The sale assumes significance as the tea industry in Assam is witnessing a crisis.
Secretary of the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) Dinesh Bihani said that 'Manohari Gold Tea' broke its 2020 auction-price record of Rs 75,000 per kg.
This year, he said, a kilogramme of the specialty tea was bought by Saurav Tea Traders at Rs 99,999.
"I hope that the foreign buyers will also like these Indian specialty teas," Bihani said. He urged more sellers to come up with such teas and make India a hub of rare, specialty beverages.
While the specialty teas produced by different tea gardens in Assam are making back to back records due to prices, the Indian Tea Association (ITA) has recently appealed the state and central government to ban expansion of tea areas for at least five areas and demanded that the government take over the Provident Fund contributions for the workers at least for three years.
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Last year, the ITA made a public appeal through newspapers that the tea industry was in crisis. ITA stressed that saving the sector was critical for the future of a million-plus workforce associated with it.
"While the average selling price has almost remained stagnant, the average cost of production has increased leading to losses by the (tea) gardens,” read the appeal.
The ITA also urged the government to set aside a substantial fund for generic promotion of tea in India and fixing minimum reserve price in auctions based on the cost of production.
Assam has over 850 small, medium and large tea gardens. The northeastern state of India is also known for producing the highest quantity of tea in the world at 650 million kilograms every year accounting for almost 52 percent of India’s total tea production.
