Tea Fraternity comes together to raise over Rs 2.26 crore for Assam flood relief

Guwahati: The Special Charity Tea Auction held at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) witnessed an overwhelming response from the tea fraternity. The auction realised Rs 1.61 crore, with an additional contribution of Rs 65 lakh from Hemant Bangur, taking the overall contribution to approximately Rs 2.26 crore towards the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, Assam, for flood relief and support to affected families.

The occasion was graced Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Assam, Rameswar Teli, Minister for Transformation & Development, Labour Welfare, and Tea Tribes & Adivasi Welfare Ravi Kota, Chief Secretary, Assam S. Mehta, President, Tea Association of India stated that a major highlight was the 12 ceremonial lots hammered by the Chief Minister, which together raised Rs 99.51 lakh, setting the tone for enthusiastic bidding throughout the auction.

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The event witnessed the presence of eminent tea producers, including Rudra Chatterjee. TAI expressed special gratitude to buyers who travelled from Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad and Delhi to support the cause, including Paras Desai of Wagh Bakri, Rushab Shah of Jivraj Tea, Dhaval Shah of Society Tea and Rishab Jain of Today Tea, besides Arunava Borah of HUL and several other members of the tea trade.

In terms of purchase value, the leading buyers were Society Tea (Rs 26.10 lakh), Wagh Bakri (Rs 24.04 lakh), Today Tea (Rs 15.10 lakh), Jivraj Tea (Rs 13.00 lakh) and Uphaar (Rs 12.24 lakh).

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Mohit Agarwal, Senior Vice President, Tea Association of India, said, “The response has been overwhelming. The presence and active participation of our Chief Minister created tremendous excitement and enthusiasm across the tea fraternity. We are particularly grateful to buyers who travelled from different parts of the country and bid so generously. It was truly an occasion when the entire tea fraternity came together for Assam.”

The success of the auction reflected the collective effort of the entire tea value chain — tea producers contributed teas, brokers waived brokerage, participating warehouses waived warehousing charges, GTAC facilitated the special auction, and buyers responded with exceptional generosity.

TAI expressed its sincere gratitude to the Chief Minister, Government of Assam, Tea Board India, GTAC, tea producers, buyers, brokers, warehouses, auctioneers and all other stakeholders for making the initiative a success.