GUWAHATI: Assam’s most premium teas, as stipulated by the Tea Board of India, were up for sale in the first International Tea Day Special Auction on Monday.
The auction, which fetched record prices of up to Rs 4,000 per kg at the Jorhat tea e-marketplace, was organised by mjunction services limited, India’s largest B2B e-commerce company.
Official sources said more than 93% of the total teas on offer got sold. The buyers had logged in from Assam, West Bengal, Delhi, Gujarat, and Rajasthan.
The Pabhojan Orthodox tea was sold at Rs 4,000 per kg. Similarly, Diroibam Speciality Green tea was sold at Rs 1,000 per kg and the famous Hookhmol CTC tea fetched Rs 510 per kg -- all of them record prices in their respective categories.
Kamal Sharma and Pradeep Sharma, directors of Tea World which purchased Hookhmol CTC from the platform at Rs 510 per kg, said with a shorter cycle time, the teas sold on mjunction platform were the freshest.
Bhaskar Hazarika, director of Real Assam Tea Industries which supplied Hookhmol CTC, said, “I congratulate mjunction on successfully conducting the special tea auction to celebrate the International Tea Day. Tea estate companies are the only private sector enterprises that have survived in Assam for two centuries despite all hostilities.”
The Assam tea estates have survived many challenges, including nationalization bid, extreme regulation, the Land Ceiling Act, and agitations of all kinds since 1947.
Nazrana Ahmed of Diroibam Tea Estate, whose green tea fetched Rs 1,000 per kg, said, “Today’s special auction is of special significance to us as we have received the highest bid for our Specialty Green Teas. We are happy with the professional approach of mjunction team and the trust reposed on the platform by the buyers.”
Nilesh Divekar of Shangrila Enterprise, who purchased Pabhojan Orthodox at Rs 4,000 per kg, appreciated the mjunction team for providing the platform where the best of the teas were available.