Assam: Auction of dust tea made mandatory from April 1, 2024

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: Assam and a few other tea manufacturing states will have to auction the dust grade of tea completely through public tea auctions from April 1, 2024.

On the basis of directions from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Department of Commerce), the Tea Board of India has issued a set of directives to tea manufacturers in Assam and 10 other states regarding the auction of 100% dust-grade tea through public tea auctions.

Dust tea is a lower-grade tea made from crushed tea leaves and stems, also known as tea dust or fannings. The leaves are crushed, pressed, and rolled, with bits falling off. This process is industrial and faster than making leaf tea by hand or machine. The smaller particles in dust tea allow for quicker brewing.

According to an order from the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Department of Commerce), total dust grades of tea are used for the manufacturing of packet tea, instant tea, tea bags, aromatic tea, green tea, quick-brew black tea, and organic tea.

The Ministry took a decision regarding the auction of dust-grade tea earlier, and finally, on February 23, 2024, issued an official order regarding the matter.

Based on this decision, the Tea Board of India issued an order for the execution of the Ministry’s order, which says, “The Government of India order dated February 23, 2024 has directed that every registered tea manufacturer in the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal shall sell 100% of dust grades of tea through public tea auctions, held under the control of organizer of tea auction licensed to do so under the Tea Marketing Control Order, 2003.”

“Further, the Tea Board, vide order No. 363 dated March 8, 2024, has directed that the said order will be applicable for a period of three months with effect from April 1, 2024. In this connection, a committee is hereby constituted with the following composition for overall monitoring of the auctions of dust grades of tea, assessing impact, and submitting its recommendations to Tea Board: The Chairman/Chairperson, Indian Tea Association; Ajay Dhandharia, Chairman, North Eastern Tea Association; Mohit Agarwal, Director, Indian Tea Exporters Association; Ajay Jalan, Managing Director, Mokalbari Kanoi Tea Estates Pvt. Ltd.,” the order stated.

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