Tripura’s first tea auction centre at Gurkhabasti is expected to become operational by April, officials said, a move that could reshape the state’s tea industry and revenue model. The foundation stone for the facility was laid in March 2024 by Chief Minister Manik Saha in West Tripura; once functional, the centre will add Tripura to the list of states hosting tea auction centres, which currently number seven across India.
Samir Ranjan Ghosh, chairman of the Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC), said, “We have set a target to operationalise the first tea auction centre at Gurkhabasti by April.” To address buyers’ concerns about high transport costs, TTDC will subsidise Rs 4 per kilogram from its own funds to help make the new auctioning hub commercially viable.
At present, Tripura growers send tea to auction centres in Guwahati and Kolkata — a process that is time-consuming and costly because of transportation. Ghosh said a local auction would mean “tea traders will not be required to send their products outside the state” and that buyers and sellers are likely to achieve “better price realisation” locally, since Tripura consignments do not get priority at outside centres.
Revenue considerations are central to the plan. Ghosh noted that Tripura is still treated as a tea-producing state and is “losing crores of State GST.” Establishing an in-state auction centre, he said, would shift its classification toward a tea-consuming state and make transactions eligible for State GST collection within Tripura.
The state currently has 54 operational tea estates and produces about 90 lakh (9 million) kilograms of made tea annually. More than 30,000 people depend directly on the sector, underscoring the economic importance of the proposed Gurkhabasti auction facility.
Original Source: https://www.indiatodayne.in/tripura/story/tripura-tea-auction-centre-set-to-open-by-april-transport-subsidy-announced-1348357-2026-02-19?utm_source=rssfeed
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Publish Date: 2026-02-19 10:12:00
