Tripura opens Agartala Tea Auction Centre, first lot fetches ₹325/kg

Tripura opened its first tea auction centre in Agartala on Thursday, October 29, and tea sold at the inaugural auction fetched ₹325 per kg.

Chief Minister Manik Saha inaugurated the Agartala Tea Auction Centre (ATAC) at PN Complex in Gorkhabasti. Buyers and industry representatives from several states, buyers from Bangladesh, local growers and officials attended. It is the North East's second tea auction centre, after Guwahati.

Why Tripura wanted its own auction

Until now, most of Tripura's tea has had to travel to auction centres in Guwahati and Kolkata to be sold. Saha said this pushed up transport and logistics costs and often delayed payments to producers.

With an auction centre in Agartala, trading moves closer to the gardens. The centre will run electronic auctions, which the state says will make price discovery more transparent, increase competition among buyers and reduce the role of middlemen. Testing, warehousing and other support facilities are also expected to cut the cost of transport, storage and sample testing.

According to figures shared at the event, growers could save roughly ₹3 to ₹6 per kg, and the selling cycle, which used to take about 44 days, could become nearly 40 per cent shorter.

Tripura's tea sector in numbers

Saha said Tripura is the second-largest tea-producing state in the North East after Assam. According to the chief minister:

• The state produces roughly 70 to 100 lakh kg of tea a year.
• It has about 54 tea gardens.
• There are between 2,000 and 2,800 small tea growers.

He called the opening a milestone for the state's economy and said the government had worked since 2018 to improve garden infrastructure and the welfare of tea workers and their families.

Who attended

Industries and Commerce Minister Santana Chakma, MLA Abhishek Debroy, Industries and Commerce Secretary Kiran Gitte, Tea Board of India Executive Director Arunita Phukan Yadav, and Tripura Tea Development Corporation chairman Samir Ranjan Ghosh and managing director Rajesh Kumar Das were present.

What happens next

The opening price is an encouraging start, but how much growers gain will depend on how much tea comes through the centre, how many buyers keep bidding and the prices in later sales. Small growers will also need easy access to the system, either directly or through collection centres, for the benefits to reach them.