Assam wants tea waste sale through auction centre

GUWAHATI: The Assam government, in order to curb resurfacing of tea waste in the market, wants Tea Board to strictly impose the provisions of tea Waste (Control) Order, 1959. The state government wants sale of tea waste to be made compulsory through the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC).

The state government has readied several measures to enhance the brand image of state tea in international markets. The issue of tea waste declaration was taken up Assam industry minister Pradyut Bordoloi with the Tea Board chairman Basudeb Banerjee in a recent meeting in Guwahati.

Mr Bordoloi told ET: We want that sale of tea waste in the state should take place through GTAC. There are some unscrupulous traders who are reprocessing and selling it in the market."

According to Tea Waste (Control) Order, 1959, every tea manufacturing unit should declare at least 2% of its production as tea waste.

Tea Association of India secretary Dipanjol Deka said: "We want tea waste to be monitored. Some unscrupulous producers are procuring tea waste illegally and reprocessing it. As many gardens are emphasizing on quality and resorting to fine plucking, the stipulation of 2% waste can be lowered."

Bidyananda Barkakoty, chairman of Northeastern Tea Association observed that as tea gardens have become quality-conscious, plucking standards have improved substantially.