Arising from the increase in the auction prices, Tea Board in the Union Commerce Ministry has announced that the district average price for the green leaf of the small growers in The Nilgiris district during June is ₹19.92 a kg.

This is the all-time high price fixed for the month of June.

Over 50,000 small growers will benefit from this price which is ₹1.29 more than the price fixed for last month.

It is significantly more compared to June last year when the price was ₹14.87. This increase of ₹5.05 marked an impressive growth of as much as 33.97 per cent.

Hence, compared to this time last year, growers will now get about ₹20 more for every kg of manufactured tea this month because four kgs of green leaf are generally used to manufacture one kg of made tea.

Tea Board’s Executive Director Dr M Balaji said that this was fixed based on the consolidated auction price of CTC teas from bought leaf factories in May.

He said that all bought leaf factories should adhere to this price while buying green leaf from small growers in June.

He has instructed all field officials to ensure that no factory in their jurisdiction paid less than this price to the growers this month.

He said that the price has been fixed as per Section 30A of Tea Marketing Control Order.