Pan-India online tea auctions by Sept

The manual tea auction systems in the country will be fully replaced with Web-based electronic platform by September, Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh told reporters today.

All registered buyers and sellers in tea trade associations will be in a position to buy and sell tea nationally through an electronic system, irrespective of their location, he said.

The requirements for registration will be finalised after discussions with the tea trade associations, said Basudeb Banerjee, chairman, Tea Board .

Inaugurating electronic tea auctions in Kochi, Ramesh said the facility will be launched at Coimbatore later today, while in Coonoor it will be inaugurated on Sunday.

By January-end, all manual systems of auctions in the three south Indian centres will be replaced with an electronic system, Ramesh said.

Ramesh said, 53 per cent of the total tea produced in the country is currently sold through the seven auction centres. The minister said e-auction may also help to attract tea currently sold through non-auction system.

The Calcutta Tea Traders Association, with support from the Tea Board, launched the world’s first e-auction system for tea in November. It was later extended to Guwahati, Jalpaiguri and Siliguri.

Tea convention: The second edition of the India International Tea Convention will be held in Kochi from February 19 to 21, Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh told reporters today.Around 500 delegates from India and abroad are likely to attend the convention promoted as a major showcasing event for Indian tea, he said.

The decision of the Tea Board and the United Planters Association of South India (Upasi), the organisers of the event, to go ahead with the programme despite the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month, deserves support from all, he said.

The decision to hold the convention will send the right message across the world that the country is not cowed down by terrorist attack, he said.