A kilo of Assam’s specialty orthodox tea from Manohari Tea Estate in Dibrugarh fetched a record price of Rs 99,999 at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) on Tuesday. Made from buds only and no leaves, the tea variety looks like crystals of 24 carat gold.
This tea was the most expensive variety sold in an auction in the country in 2018 when a kilo was sold for Rs 39,100.
In less than a month, a kg of Golden Needles tea variety produced by the Donyi Polo Tea Estate in Arunachal Pradesh became the most costly after a kg of it fetched Rs 40,000. In 2019, Manohari Gold Tea came back to become even more expensive after it fetched Rs 50,000/kg at the auction.
Assam, which produces roughly 55% of Indias tea, has more than 10 lakh tea workers in the organised sector working in about 850 big estates.