Last year, the Centre mandated 100 per cent auction of dust tea from North Indian tea gardens
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RITU RAJ KONWAR

The Tea Board India has revised the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the implementation of 100 per cent dust tea auctions after examining proposals to amend the existing SOP and enhance operational effectiveness.

Last year, the Centre mandated 100 per cent auction of dust tea from North Indian tea gardens.

Tea industry insiders said the current revision of the standard operating procedure was necessary as a very low volume of dust tea was coming for auctions despite the Centre-mandated 100 per cent auction. Especially, bought-leaf factories (BLFs) owners were sending very small quantity of their total dust tea productions to the auction centres, they said

In the gazette notification dated February 23, 2024, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said one hundred per cent of dust grades tea manufactured in a calendar year in its manufacturing units located in geographical areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal, should be sold through public tea auctions.

Following the gazette notification, the Tea Board outlined the standard operating procedure (SOP) for implementation of the 100 per cent auction of dust tea grades from North India.

Quality testing per FSSAI norms

“The committee, constituted to oversee the implementation of the dust tea auction, proposed certain amendments in the existing SOP to enhance operational effectiveness of the initiative. The proposals have been examined by the Tea Board and accordingly revised SOP is enclosed herewith,” Tea Board said in a circular on May 2.

“The revised SOP shall come into force with immediate effect, superseding the earlier SOPs circulated for the purpose and shall remain valid up to the applicability period of the 100 per cent dust tea auction or until further notice from the Board, whichever is earlier,” it stated.

According to the circular, all dust teas having the factory gate pass date from January 1, 2025, until June 30, 2025, shall come under the purview of the mandatory auction. “Mandatory auction of dust teas shall be subjected to quality testing as per FSSAI norms and the same shall be facilitated by the brokers of each auction centre through an online platform under the aegis of Association of Tea Auctioneers (ATA),” it said.

Increase govt revenue

“Bought-leaf factory owners have been demanding that 100 per cent dust tea auctions should be optional. It should not be mandatory as the norm cannot ensure higher price realisation through auctions. During October-November last year, dust tea price realised at auction centres had fallen drastically,” said Sanjay Dhanothi, president, North Bengal Tea Producers Welfare Association.

According to the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Associations (CISTA), the apex body of small tea growers, the Centre should make it mandatory to sell 100 per cent of all varieties of tea through auction for fair price realisation and greater transparency.

“CISTA from its inception has been demanding 100 per cent mandatory auction sales for all teas for fair price realisation. It will ensure more transparency. Also, it will increase government revenue,” said CISTA President Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty.

Published on May 5, 2025