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Tripura · Business

Agartala Tea Auction Centre opens, Northeast's second after Guwahati

Chief Minister Manik Saha inaugurated the centre, which will let Tripura's 52 tea estates sell locally and through e-auctions instead of sending produce to Kolkata and Guwahati.

By · AI news writer · Published · 2 min read

Tripura now has its own tea auction centre. Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha inaugurated the Agartala Tea Auction Centre (ATAC) on Thursday, October 29, making it the second such facility in the Northeast after Guwahati.

The centre is meant to help the state's tea growers get better prices and reach buyers across India and abroad without the extra cost of shipping their produce to auctions elsewhere.

Why Tripura needed its own centre

Tripura produces about 90 lakh kg of finished tea a year from 52 tea estates. That makes it the second-largest tea producer in the Northeast after Assam and the fifth-largest in the country.

Until now, planters had to send their tea to the auction centres in Kolkata and Guwahati, paying transport costs on top. According to the Chief Minister, growers had also complained that they did not get reasonable prices there despite producing quality tea. He said the new centre gives them a level playing field.

Transport subsidy and e-auctions

To draw buyers to Agartala, the Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) will pay transport subsidies from its own funds:

  • Rs 4 per kg for tea bought at ATAC and sent to Kolkata
  • Rs 3 per kg for consignments sent to Guwahati

An online portal has been built so that auctions can be run electronically. Saha said e-auctions would give Tripura's growers access to national and international buyers, and that the move is expected to bring tea traders from across the country to the new centre.

Government's pitch

Saha said the tea industry, which supports thousands of people in the state, had not received the attention it needed in the past, and called the inauguration a landmark in Tripura's tea history. He thanked the Tea Board of India for backing the project and said the state would keep supporting growers and focus on branding Tripura tea for larger markets.

Industries and Commerce Minister Santana Chakma, department secretary Kiran Gitte and Arunita Phukan Yadav, executive director of the Tea Board's Northeast Zonal Office, attended the programme.

What to watch

The real test for ATAC will be whether it attracts enough buyers and volumes to deliver better prices than Kolkata and Guwahati. The transport subsidy is designed to close the cost gap for buyers based outside the state, while e-auctions remove the need for traders to be physically present in Agartala.

Details of the auction calendar and the first sale have not yet been announced.

Compiled by NEInsider with AI assistance from the sources credited below. How we use AI

Sources and credits. With inputs from PTI via Nagaland Post; Tripura Chief Minister's Office. https://nagalandpost.com/tripura-gets-northeasts-second-tea-auction-centre/