Dibrugarh hosted the first public tea e-auction in the region, creating a new digital marketplace for tea producers, manufacturers and buyers in Upper Assam. 

• The auction was conducted by Assam Chai Bazaar LLP, a producer-promoted and brokerless digital platform licensed by the Tea Board of India.
• The development is important for Upper Assam because bringing organised price discovery closer to the tea-producing region can potentially reduce transaction and transportation costs and give producers an additional route to national markets.

What Happened at the First Auction?

The inaugural auction received participation from 18 buyers, while some major buyers could not participate because of technical difficulties.

The auction recorded significant volumes:

• The Crush, Tear, Curl leaf category had 175 lots containing about 1.49 lakh kilograms of tea, of which 61.33% was sold at an average price of around ₹206 per kilogram.
• The Crush, Tear, Curl dust category had 83 lots containing about 74,694 kilograms, with 63.16% sold at an average of around ₹210 per kilogram.
• The combined average price of tea sold was approximately ₹207 per kilogram. 
• The highest quoted prices included ₹341 per kilogram for Gelakey Crush, Tear, Curl leaf tea and ₹320 per kilogram for its dust variety.

How Does a Tea E-Auction Work?

• A tea e-auction uses a digital platform to connect sellers and buyers, allowing buyers to bid for specific lots of tea. The major advantage is price discovery. 
• Instead of a producer depending on a limited number of buyers, multiple buyers can participate in a structured bidding process, helping determine the market price of a particular quality of tea.
• The Tea Board of India regulates tea auctions and has an established framework for electronic tea trading. 

Exam Hook: Key Takeaway

Dibrugarh’s first public tea e-auction represents the digital transformation of agricultural marketing and can strengthen price discovery, market access and value realisation for Assam’s tea producers.

One-line wrap: Dibrugarh’s maiden public tea e-auction brings the marketplace closer to Upper Assam’s tea producers and marks an important step towards a more digital, transparent and competitive tea economy.