Agartala: The Tripura government is keen on making the first tea auction centre operational by the next season.
This was informed by Tripura Minister of Industries and Commerce Santana Chakma on Friday during the first tea buyers-sellers meet in Agartala.
The meet, organized by the Industries and Commerce Department, was attended by representatives of the Tea Board of India, Tea Association of India, and Indian Auction Association.
Speaking on the occasion, state minister Santana Chakma said that once the centre becomes functional, transportation costs and the time required for consignments to reach their destinations will reduce significantly.
All stakeholders would have to work collectively to introduce Tripura tea in the national arena, she said.
Chairman of the Tripura Tea Development Corporation, Samir Ranjan Ghosh, said, “We currently send our tea to Kolkata and Assam for auctioning. Both are tea-producing states, and hence, their domestic products get priority in those auctions. No matter how good our quality is, we must wait for our turn. If our auction centre is opened here, we will have bargaining power, and proper price realisation will take place.”
The price realisation process is expected to benefit the tea growers of Tripura, he said.
“The establishment of the auction centre could save Rs 3 to Rs 6 per kilogram of tea and reduce transportation time from 44 days to 29 days,” Ghosh added.
Sumanta Poddar of the India Tea Association asserted that Tripura tea is produced with a minimal range of pesticides.
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The state has five government-operated tea gardens and two factories. In addition, 54 large tea gardens collectively produce an annual output of 90 lakh kilograms of tea.
