Centre directs 100 per cent sale of dust grade tea via public auction

In a major move, the Centre has issued an order mandating 100 per cent auction of dust tea grades through public auction.

Amending the Tea (Marketing) Control Order, 2003, the Union Ministry of Commerce issued a gazette notification today and where it was stated that the Tea (Marketing) Control (Amendment) Order, 2024, shall come into force with effect from April 1 this year.

As per the amended order, 100 per cent of dust grade tea manufactured in a calendar year in its manufacturing units located in the geographical area of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal, is to be sold through public tea auctions. This directive does not apply to a mini tea factory.

The notification coems in after a meeting between Union Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, and stakeholders of the industry in early January this year.

Noteworthy here is that in Assam and West Bengal, about 25 per cent of production is dust tea.

Meanwhile, in the same notification, the Centre has also mandated 50 per cent compulsory sale of tea through public auctions.