Assam has achieved a new milestone in speciality tea production, with an Assam-made Pu’er tea cake fetching ₹12,000 per kg at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre.

The five-kilogram lot was produced by Gauripur Tea Industry of Golaghat and was auctioned for the first time at Guwahati. The producer began making this speciality tea in 2023.

What Makes Assam’s Pu’er Tea Special?

Pu’er tea is traditionally associated with Yunnan Province of China and is generally known for its fermentation and ageing characteristics.

Gauripur Tea Industry has developed an Assam-made version using Camellia sinensis var. assamica, the tea variety naturally associated with Assam.

• The tea is made from only the tender bud, rather than the conventional “one bud and two leaves” plucking standard.
• The production process is largely handcrafted and takes around three to ten days.
• The leaves are processed and compressed into disc-shaped tea cakes.
• The initiative aims to explore Assam’s tea varieties beyond conventional black and green tea.

The producer had earlier sold a speciality Pu’er lot through the Jorhat auction centre in 2023, where it fetched ₹9,000 per kg.

Significance

The development represents a shift towards value addition and product diversification in Assam’s tea industry.

• Speciality teas can help producers move beyond dependence on conventional Crush, Tear, Curl tea and explore premium markets.
• Higher-value products can improve the economic potential of Assam’s indigenous tea varieties.
• The success may also create an organised market for traditional products such as Phalap tea, associated with the Singpho community of eastern Assam.

Government Support

• The Assam Tea Industries Special Incentives Scheme, 2020 supports the production of orthodox and speciality teas.
• Under the revised incentive framework, the production subsidy for orthodox and speciality tea has been increased from ₹10 to ₹15 per kg from the 2026–27 financial year. 
• The scheme also supports other aspects of tea-sector investment and production.

Exam Hook: Key Takeaway

Assam’s Pu’er tea success illustrates how value addition, speciality processing and government incentives can diversify the State’s traditional tea economy.

One-line wrap: From conventional tea to Pu’er and other indigenous speciality varieties, Assam is exploring new ways to extract greater value from its own tea heritage.