In an effort to boost the century-old tea industry in the state, the Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) is contemplating setting up its own auction centre at Dharmanagar.
Dharmanagar in North Tripura district borders southern Assam which also grows tea and their products could be auctioned at the proposed centre, TTDC chairperson Santosh Saha said adding that auctioning of tea grown in Sylhet division of Bangladesh in the centre could also be explored.
“The tea industry is Tripuras only surviving industry and if we open the auction centre it will reduce the dependence on auction centres of Guwahati and Kolkata,” he told a news agency.
“We’ll create a brand for Tripura tea, which will compete with Assam tea and other brands of the country and also try to turn the TTDC into a profit-making public sector undertaking”, Saha, who assumed charge on July 4, said.
These apart, there are nearly 3,000 small tea growers in the state, they said. Tea production began in Tripura at the Hiracherra tea estate in present-day Unakoti district in 1916. As per latest reports, 6,885 hectares of land is under tea cultivation in the state, the officials said.
Assistant Director (Tea Development) of Tea Board of India Diganta Barman had recently said efforts were on to make the Tripura tea industry a profit-making one. “Work is on for a logo and brand-positioning of Tripura tea. We are also planning to develop tea tourism. We are trying to find a good theme”, he said.
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