The tea auction at Jalpaiguri, the district head quarter of tea growing Jalpaiguri district in northern part of West Bengal, resumed on May 9 after a gap of 29 months, largely at the initiative of the West Bengal Government and Tea Board.

On that day, a total of 419 packages in 19 lots were offered and sold. The offerings mainly comprised tea from the bought leaf factories. The highest price recorded was Rs 168 a kg and the lowest at Rs 100.

Henceforth, the auction, which is held online, will be held every Tuesday. The District Magistrate heads the managing committee responsible for smooth conduct of the auction, the members of the committee being from buyers, sellers and brokers. Apart from bought leaf factories, Tea Board sources hope, some big gardens in the area too will participate in the auction. Some of them were present at the May 9 auction.

The tea auction in Jalpaiguri first started in April 2005 and continued till November 2009. It closed mainly because the sellers withdrew. The sellers' interest in the auction flagged as they were not getting right price due to the absence of competitive bidding. There were other reasons also, the most important being the existence of a major tea auction centre at Siliguri, only 50 km away. The Siliguri tea auction centre is vibrant with participation of buyers and sellers from the organised sector. In past few years, the tea scenario in the area has changed with the mushrooming of small-growers and the consequent emergence of bought leaf factories to cater to the requirements of these growers.

There are now close to 100 bought leaf factories in and around Jalpaiguri as compared to less than 10 a few years ago. But these factories have been finding it difficult to push their entire production through private sale and therefore looking for an alternative channel, more so because they do not have much access to Siliguri auction centre.

The resumption of operation at Jalpaiguri auction centre, it is hoped, will help them.

santanu@thehindu.co.in

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