DIBRUGARH, Sept 25: Upper Assam is set to script a important new chapter in the history of the tea trade, with Dibrugarh preparing to host its maiden public tea e-auction on September 25, bringing organised auctioning closer to one of India’s most important tea-producing belts. The inaugural sale, being conducted by Assam Chai Bazaar LLP, will mark the beginning of what the promoters envisage as a new digital marketplace for tea, connecting producers in the tea heartl and of upper Assam with buyers across the country.

The ceremonial inaugural sale will be held at HM Resort in the presence of Tea Board of India deputy chairman C Murugan as the chief guest and executive director Arunita Phukan Yadav as the guest of honour. The proposed first sale has already generated substantial interest, with 127 sellers and 55 buyers registering with Assam Chai Bazaar LLP.

23 lakh kg of tea of different varieties and specialities, are expected to come under the hammer during the maiden auction, the organisers said. Among the prominent buyers registered for the auction are Tata Consumer Products Limited, Jindutt Pharmaceuticals, Vikram Tea Processor Pvt Ltd, CI Limited and Pranjivan J Shah, indicating the participation of established tea buyers and industry players in the new marketplace.

The launch assumes particular significance because it places a formal public tea auction in the midst of the upper Assam tea belt, rather than concentrating the region’s auction activity away from its principal production centres. Dibrugarh and neighbouring Tinsukia are among the country’s major tea-producing areas, while the wider upper Assam region accounts for a substantial concentration of Assam’s tea estates.

Government data show that nearly 70 per cent of Assam’s big tea estates are located in Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar and Charaideo, with Dibrugarh alone recording the highest number of tea estates in the state in 2023. The development is potentially even more consequential for the small tea grower segment, which has become a major force in Assam’s tea economy.

According to Chand Kumar Gohain, one of the promoters of Assam Chai Bazaar, tea-producing areas within approximately 120 km of Dibrugarh, extending into adjoining districts and parts of Arunachal Pradesh, constitute a major tea-producing catchment for the proposed marketplace. “Our main purpose was to bring the auction closer to the tea-producing region instead of taking the produce and the commercial activity elsewhere.