mjunction to organise special e-auction of tea in Assam

    Guwahati, Jun 19 (PTI) Some of Assam's most premium
tea will go under the hammer at an International Tea Day
special auction on Monday, being organized by mjunction
services limited at its Jorhat tea e-marketplace.
    This is the first time that mjunction services
limited, an equal joint venture of Tata Steel and SAIL and one
of India's leading B2B e-commerce companies, is organising
this special e-auction in Assam, officials said on Saturday.
    The teas on offer at this e-auction will include the
best teas as stipulated by the Tea Board of India to mark the
International Tea Day.
    "Producers ensure that the tea offered is of premium
quality by plucking only 'two leaves and a bud' on May 21,
which is celebrated as International Tea Day. The auction to
celebrate the day is done a month later as it takes time to
prepare for it," an official said.
    Under a special endeavour of the Tea Board, plucking
of the tea leaves is done on International Tea Day and then
manufactured as the brew, followed by special auctions of
these teas in June.
    The first such initiative to mark the day was launched
last year by the Tea Board and the special auction at six
centres, including Guwahati and Kolkata, was conducted
electronically on June 22, 2020.
    "For its debut e-auction, mjunction's centre at Jorhat
has received some of the best of Assam's CTC/Green and
Orthodox marks such as Hookhmal, Muktabari, Aideobari,
Rangliting, Narayanpur, Diroibam, Lankashi, Durgapur,
Kathonibari, Arin and Pabhojan," the official said.
    Buyers, including premium tea retail chains, high-end
tea shops and cafes, packeteers selling luxury and premium tea
packs, and specialty tea traders, from all over India will
participate in the e-auction, he added.
    "We all look forward to celebrating Indian Tea. The
last two years have been tough on the tea industry. All
stakeholders, including small growers and small buyers, have
been adversely affected due to the pandemic. This initiative
will certainly do its bit in lifting the spirits of the
industry," mjunction Managing Director Vinaya Varma said.
    The mjunction's auction centre will bring together
buyers, sellers, financers, logistic service providers, tea
tasters and warehouses on a digital e-marketplace, ensuring
efficiency, cost saving and fresh produce to the stakeholders,
he added.
    The mjunction services limited had stepped into the
e-marketplace world in 2020 with its tea e-auction platform
set up in association with the Tea Board of India, at Jorhat
in Assam.
    In the last one year, mjunction's e-marketplace
connected with hundreds of sellers and buyers across the
country, fetched good prices and received offerings of more
than 1.3 million kg of tea from Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal
Pradesh.
    Nearly 300 stakeholders, consisting of major tea
buyers and sellers, are registered in this tea e-marketplace.
    "We are focused on bringing down the sales cycle time
and make freshly produced tea available in the market,
directly from the producing region in the shortest possible
time. We want to make the supply-chain efficient and ease up
the working capital burden of the stakeholders," Varma said.
    Without divulging details, he said that an
international tea e-marketplace is on the anvil in the near
future. PTI SSG TR
RG RG

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)