From Our Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI: A special variety of orthodox tea from a garden in Upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district has fetched the highest price at an auction centre across the globe.
A line (2kg) of Manohari Gold Special tea was knocked down under the pan-India auction system at a whopping price of Rs 50,000 per kg at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre here on Tuesday morning.
The grade, which had a pre-sale valuation of Rs 40,000 per kg, was sold by Contemporary Brokers Pvt Ltd and bought by Saurabh Tea Traders Pvt Ltd during sale number 31.
In July 24 last year, Manohari Gold had fetched Rs 39,001 per kg which was broken by another specialty variety tea (Golden Needles) from Arunachal Pradesh’s Donyi Polo Tea Estate, which sold for Rs 40,000 per kg at GTAC the very next month.
Manohari Gold is an orthodox tea variety made with the finest tea clones. It is very delicate with golden-tipped leaves, rich in aroma and is regarded as the world’s finest tea. The leaves are plucked in the early hours of the morning to prevent the sun from altering its distinct aroma and flavour.
Industry sources say that the record price bears testimony to the fact that quality has no end and tea lovers are ready to pay any price for such innovative and boutique quality tea.
“This is a proud moment for the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre as well. The auction centre has proven to be an ideal platform for speciality teas to make a mark by breaking records as demand for speciality teas grows across India. This will encourage other quality tea producers to make good-quality speciality tea and send it to GTAC which is now a hub for specialty tea,” Dinesh Bihani, secretary of the Guwahati Tea Auction Buyers Association, said.
Meanwhile, in a novel gesture, the tea estate has decided to donate Tuesday’s auction proceeds from the sale of the line of Golden Tea to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
Speaking to the media, Rajan Lohia, owner of the tea garden said that the entire amount would be donated to the CM’s Flood Relief Fund.