Guwahati Tea Auction Centre plans year-long programmes for 200 years of Assam tea

The Guwahati Tea Auction Centre in Assam is set to celebrate 200 years of the Assam tea industry with a year-long programme of events. Starting in May and running throughout the year, the celebrations will include seminars, road shows, and tasting sessions of Assam tea.

Dinesh Bihani, Secretary of the Guwahati Tea Auction Buyer’s Association (GTABA), said that the centre has received full cooperation from the Assam government and will invite officials from tea auction centres around the world to participate in the festivities.

“Our main aim is to bring back the glory of Assam tea in the entire world,” Bihani said.

The GTABA also plans to organise a seminar in October-November 2023 to discuss the impact of climate change on the tea industry. Buyers, sellers, tea tasters, and stakeholders from across the world will be invited to participate.

Bihani added that the tea industry in Assam is gradually regaining its previous glory after a period of decline in tea exports over the past 10-12 years. The GTABA plans to promote Assam tea across the country and increase tea consumption in India, which currently stands at a modest 750 grams per person annually.

To coincide with the 200 years of Assam tea celebrations, the Assam government will organise road shows in major cities across India and abroad to promote Assam tea as a brand. In the state budget for the financial year 2023-24, state Finance Minister Ajanta Neog announced the government's plans to celebrate the milestone in a grand manner.

Assam is the largest tea-producing state in India, accounting for around half of the country's total tea production. The industry provides livelihoods to millions of people in the state, with many others directly or indirectly dependent on the plantations.

Tea bushes were first discovered in Assam in 1823, and the industry has been the backbone of the state's economy for nearly two centuries. Assam is famous for both Orthodox and CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) varieties of tea, and its tea industry generates annual foreign exchange earnings in thousands of crores.