GUWAHATI, Feb 2 - The Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) has created history in tea auction sales.
As per data available, the GTAC has sold 186.14 million kg of tea during the year 2017, the highest among all auction centres in the country. The total value of tea that went under the hammer during the year was to the tune of Rs 2,607 crore.
The GTAC is now the second largest auction centre in the world for CTC teas, after Kenya, and India�s No. 1 auction centre in all categories of tea.
The GTAC also has a world record of selling the highest priced specialty tea in 2017. In November last year, the Donyi Polo Tea Estate of Arunachal Pradesh sold its Golden Needle grade tea at Rs 18,801 per kg, the highest price fetched under the hammer in the country.
�It means more sellers are interested to sell their tea at the centre and buyers too are ready to pay the prices,� Dinesh Bihani, secretary of the Guwahati Tea Auction Buyers� Association told The Assam Tribune.
In 2016, the auction centre had sold 139.2 million kg of tea.
In 2017, the Calcutta auction centre sold 168.19 million kg of tea against 142.3 million kg in the previous year. Siliguri sold 131.41 million kg against 113.31 million kg in 2016.
The GTAC, set up in 1970, is making a lot of efforts in recent times to sell specialty tea through its auction platform.