GUWAHATI, Feb 27 � The total quantity of tea sold through the West Bengal tea auction centres last year was much higher than what was sold through the lone Assam tea auction centre at Guwahati during the year.
West Bengal has three auction centres at Kolkata, Siliguri and Jalpaiguri. The tea auction centre at Jalpaiguri handles a very small quantity of tea. Last year, the Kolkata and Siliguri auction centres together sold about 270 million kg of tea, against the 163 million kg sold at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC).
It is pertinent to mention here that Assam produced a record quantity of about 618 million kg of tea last year, against the about 315 million kg produced by West Bengal during the year. In 2013, the total tea produced by India was about 1200 million kg. In this, Assam�s contribution was about 52 per cent, against the 26 per cent contribution made by West Bengal.
Against this backdrop, the GTAC last year sold only about 38 per cent of the total 433 million kg of tea sold through the three auction centres located at Kolkata, Siliguri and Guwahati. The auction centres at Kolkata and Siliguri sold the rest about 62 per cent of the above quantity. Individually, the GTAC sold about 163 million kg of tea last year, against the auction centre at Kolkata selling about 170 million kgs of tea.
The GTAC sold about 127 million kg of tea in 2013 through �auction mode�, against the about 156 million kg sold by the Kolkata tea auction centre through the same mode during the year.
