Arunachal's 'Golden Needle' tea is as expensive as Assam's 'Golden Butterfly', sells at Rs 75,000 per kg

GUWAHATI: A variety of tea grown in Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday touched the record heights set by Assam tea earlier this month selling for Rs 75000 per kg at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC).

'Golden Needle' tea produced by Donyipolo Tea Estate in Arunachal Pradesh was sold by Contemporary Tea Brokers and was bought by city-based buyer Chattar Singh Narendra Kumar for online tea seller Absolute Tea, GTAC Buyers Association secretary Dinesh Bihani said.

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On August 13, Dikom Tea Estate of Assam had sold its Golden Butterfly tea at Rs 75,000 per kg at the GTAC, auction centre official said.

Donyipolo Tea Estate had last year set a record when their tea was sold for Rs 39000 per kg, Bihani said.

"These teas do not draw the real picture of the tea industry. But the industry should appreciate producers who are making top notch teas and are making a name for Indian Tea Industry in the world," Bihani said.

Arunachal Pradesh recently came up in the tea map of the country for producing speciality tea. These have been appreciated by tea lovers across the world, Bihani said.

"We had bought Donyipolo Golden Needles in the past few years. The response has been superb and we expect a similar response this year," Kumar said.

The tea was made from the tips of selected clones by skilled artisans, Satyanjoy Hazarika, managing director, tea, of Contemporary Brokers said.