Tea auction at tourism fest:

picture by Suman Tamang

TT';Vivek Chhetri; An open-air tea auction held in Darjeeling fetched more than Rs 3.5 lakh on the first day of the Tea and Tourism Festival organised by the Indian Tea Association. Soon after the festival was inaugurated on Thursday, tea was sold for around Rs 10,000 per kg. In half an hour, 35kg of tea was sold. 

The proceeds of the sale will go for charity. Bimal Gurung, chief executive of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration started the bidding for which 12 buyers who had come from across the country. S. Patra, the joint secretary of the ITA, said: “Seven chests each weighing 5kg were put on auction and the bidding started from Rs 20,000 onwards.” 

Gujarat Tea Processors and Packers won the bid for auction number one and two for a sum of Rs 50,000. They also won auction number seven for Rs 61,001. Mahabodhi Tea House bought 5kg of tea for Rs 61,000 to win auction number three, while Golden Tips, Tata Global and Lochan Tea won auction four, five and six for sums ranging between Rs 45,000 and Rs 61,000. The festival started with different communities of the hills bringing out a colourful rally with tableaux on trucks. 

The carnival parade was led by Gurung, minister Gautam Deb, actor Kunal Khemu, film director Vishal Mahadkar and cinematographer Nigam Bomzan. “I want to use this platform today to send a message to the state government through minister Gautam Deb that tourism needs development of infrastructure beyond organising dance and music festivals. The government needs to be practical and I hope there will be no interference from the state government in developing the region,” said Gurung. Text by