Tripura will acquire a tea auction centre

The Tea Board of India is actively contemplating establishing a tea auction centre in Tripura. Santosh Saha, Chairman of Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC), stated, "The Tea Board of India told us that it was seriously considering establishing a tea auction centre in Tripura. We now need to construct a warehouse to support it ". He stated that the auction centre could be established in Dharmanagar, the headquarters of the North district, so that tea planters from Assam's Karimganj and Cachar districts, in addition to those from Tripura, could sell their tea.

"Tripura has historically had difficulty auctioning tea since the state lacks an auction centre. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha and former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had requested that the Government of India negotiate with Bangladesh so that Tripura planters could auction their produce at Sreemangal, which is only 10 kilometres from the northern Tripura border with Bangladesh ", according to Saha. The decision to establish a Tripura auction centre may be an attempt to derail plans to relocate the auction industry to a neighbouring nation.

However, according to Saha, "Despite our friendly relationship with Bangladesh, they have put Indian tea on the blacklist. Furthermore, there is a high excise cost on Indian tea that should be eliminated. A powerful vested interest organisation is working hard to prevent our tea from being auctioned at Sreemangal ". In response to a question, he told PTI, "Even if we obtain a Tea auction centre in our state, we will attempt to acquire access to Sreemangal Tea auction centre for better transportation and to reach a bigger market."

Currently, growers in this region rely on far-flung auction centres in Guwahati and Kolkata to sell their crops, raising the expenses. Tripura tea was sold through the Chittagong auction centre and exported out of the port there until the 1965 war with Pakistan, when travel and trade between the two neighbouring nations was easy. This arrangement was shattered by the war and the subsequent rift in trade ties.

Manas Bhattacharya, manager of the Laxmi Tea Company, stated that the absence of a tea auction centre in Tripura is a big impediment to delivering the produce to the country's main markets or exporting tea abroad. Planters expect that if they can sell through Sreemangal, they will be able to export through Bangladesh's Ashuganj or Chittagong ports. Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said his government has started the process of establishing a tea auction centre in the state and wants to see the business thrive as it creates jobs quickly. Tripura produces 9-10 lakh kg of tea every year, and farmers are now focusing on organic varieties to achieve a higher price, according to officials.

Tripura has 60 tea gardens, 42 of which are privately held, 13 are managed by cooperative groups, and three are managed by the TTDC. Furthermore, the northeastern state is home to roughly 3,000 tiny tea farmers. Interestingly, Tripura's gardens were pioneered by Indian tea entrepreneurs because the state's former ruler, Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya, prohibited British planters from purchasing land in his territory. Tripura's agro-climatic conditions are favourable for tea production. We now have a logo for Tripura tea to compete with Assam and Darjeeling tea, as well as other established brands, according to Saha.

According to officials, the state-run Tripura Tea Development Corporation is also attempting to directly retail tea by distributing 'Tripureswari' branded packages and reaching out to consumers via the public distribution system (PDS). Tea production in Tripura began in 1916 at the Hiracherra tea estate in the Unakoti area. According to the most recent statistics, the state has 6,885 hectares of tea cultivation area. Annually, the northeastern state produces around 3.58 crore kg of green tea leaf. According to Saha, the state's tea business employs about 50,000 people.

He stated that as a mark of respect and to preserve their traditional culture, the state government has installed a statue of Birsa Munda in a tea garden in Khowai district, which will be unveiled on November 15, and a statue of Sidhu and Kanu in a tea garden about 25 kilometres away, which will be unveiled later this month.

(source : PTI)