Tea board to launch new software for e-auctions

The Tea Board of India is planning to introduce a new software for electronic auctions throughout the country.

The board is likely to implement the new system for the first time at its auction centre at Coimbatore or Coonoor.

The Tea Traders' Association of Coimbatore (TTAC) had become the first auction centre in the country to have implemented the e-auction system in 2005.

Till date, the auction centres have been using a defective software developed by IBM and Accenture last year, at a cost of Rs 65-70 lakh. But the system had failed to meet the requirements of the tea industry.

"It does not help in price realisation. Moreover, it lacks transparency," industry sources told Business Standard.

The Tea Board has commissioned NSE. IT, a subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange, to develop the new software which is likely to be completed by the end of this year.

Accordingly, a team from NSE. IT visited the Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) a few weeks ago and studied every aspect of auctioning, like major varieties of tea traded, approximate volume offered and sold, price realisation, response from buyers and sellers and also the mode of auctioning at the Coonoor auction centre.

Auctioneering sources said that considering the huge volume of tea traded here, the board was likely to implement the new system at either of the two auction centres in the the state.

According to estimates of the Tea Board, of the 146.91 lakh tonnes of tea exported in March, South India dominated the scene by exporting 100.04 lakh tonnes, while North India's share was a mere 46.87 lakh tonnes.

Moreover, the auctions in these centres are running smoothly after the defects were rectified, unlike in North where little has been done in the area of e-auctions. The auction at Coonoor is 100 per cent electronic.