Rs 1 lakh for a kilo: This Assam tea is India’s most expensive

Guwahati: Wake up to your morning Assam tea worth Rs 99,999. It is difficult to believe, but it happened on Tuesday morning at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre when an orthodox tea from the Manohari tea estate situated in the Dibrugarh district of Assam fetched Rs 99,999.

The tea, weighing one kg, was sold by Contemporary Brokers. This is now the highest price for any tea sold at the auctions across the country. The tea named “Manohari Gold”, a speciality tea, was bought by Sourabh Tea Traders Pvt Ltd.

“There was a huge demand for this tea. A few of my friends have already bought it. It is used for gifting purposes as Christmas and New Year are around. These are rare teas which are generally not available,” Mangilal Maheshwari, CEO of Saurabh Tea Traders told EastMojo.

“Four packets of 50 gm is still available, and the price will be Rs 6,000 per 50 gms, including GST. It will be given on a first come first served basis,” he said.

“We are delighted over this new record-breaking price and creating history for the fourth time in a row since 2018, as we manufactured it given the high demand from discerning consumers and tea connoisseurs for this type of premium quality speciality tea. The price it fetched is something which will help the Assam Tea Industry regain its lost fame,” Rajan Lohia of Suntok Tea Company, which owns Manohari and Suntok gardens told EastMojo.

“This tea has a bright liquor and a soothing after-taste,” he said.

Assam tea is generally known for the second flush, which comes in May-June, and is characterised by its boldness and robustness and is topped with classic flavours of malt and woody astringency. It is valued for its rich taste, bright liquors and is considered one of the choicest teas in the world.

“This is a proud moment for Guwahati Tea Auction Center where Manohari Gold Tea of Dibrugarh has created history once again by breaking its record. I hope that the foreign buyers will also like these Indian speciality teas and I urge more and more sellers to come up with speciality teas and make India a hub for speciality teas,” Dinesh Bihani, Secretary Guwahati Tea Auction Buyers Association told EastMojo.

Sources said such high prices don’t reflect the reality of the Indian tea industry as the quantity sold is just one kg.

“The average price of CTC teas at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) – Rs 138.97 in 2019-20, Rs 218.15 in 2020-21 and Rs 188.71 in 2021 (Apr to Oct). The Cost of Production (CoP) this year has gone up by about Rs 32 per kg of made tea due to a hike in daily cash wage from Rs 167 to Rs 205 and an increase in the cost of inputs. The price realisation for tea producers is not commensurate with the increase in costs and there are many reasons for it,” a tea industry official said.