Jalpaiguri tea auction centre set to reopen after a decade
Times of India | 2 March 2025
123 Jalpaiguri: The North Bengal Tea Auction Centre (NBTAC) in Jalpaiguri is set to resume operations after a decade. In a letter to NBTAC, the Union commerce and industries ministry has informed that operations will restart from March 31.
Opened in 2005, NBTAC remained defunct since 2015 as it struggled to get a steady supply from tea producers. Besides, state govt did not give it a waiver on VAT applicable at that time. This ultimately prompted tea makers to turn back on the centre.
The stakeholders sought from the Tea Board a few special benefits, including tax waivers. Now that Tea Board has made it mandatory for all tea dust from north India to be sold through public auction starting from April 1, NBTAC hopes for a turnaround.
NBTAC vice-president Purojit Bakshi Gupta said buyers at the centre would get an extra 2% discount. "There are several other benefits that buyers will get at our auction centre. We are hopeful that the centre will turn viable this time. NBTAC will witness the final trial auction on March 10," he said.
"We have asked for an open market, and if transportation is made easy, we have no issue in sending our produce here," said Sumit Ghosh, secretary of Tea Association of India's Dooars-Terai chapter.
Sanjay Dhanothi, president of Bought Leaf Factories Owners' Association, said: "We have no issue selling the tea produced by BLFs if we get the announced benefits."
It may be recalled that small tea growers now constitute over 50% of the total tea produced in the country.