Agartala: Tripura in the Northeast will finally have its own tea auction centre in the capital Agartala. Notably, Tripura is the fifth-highest tea producer in the country - after Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. 

The state's Chief Minister Manik Saha, who inaugurated the centre, emphasized the pivotal role of the tea production sector in shaping the state’s economy. "Tea is a bridge for relationships", he said, and noted the sector’s substantial growth in the state despite facing logistical challenges.

Previously, Tripura’s tea had to be auctioned in West Bengal. "With the establishment of auction centers locally, costs associated with storage and transportation would decrease, potentially enhancing the quality of Tripura tea", Saha said. "Tea had to be taken outside the state and it involved different ancillary processes like shouldering godown costs, transport cost, and manpower involvement,” he said.

Saha concluded by announcing plans to introduce a tea course at Maharaja Bir Bikram University and reiterated the government’s dedication to "empower tea garden workers through land allocation and welfare schemes."

The state’s tea industry, which is over 100 years old, started in 1916 with the Hiracherra tea estate at Kailashahar in what is now the Unakoti district and has roughly 14,000 workers including 2,800 small tea growers.

Tripura has 54 tea estates, including 12 run by cooperatives and three in public sector, spread across 12,990 hectares. The state has 22 tea factories, including 15 private and five cooperative-run ones.

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