Guwahati: Tripura gets its first gas-powered tea processing facility at the Durgabari Tea Estate in the West Tripura district.

Tripura's chief minister, Manik Saha, has indicated that the state government is aiming to build a tea auction centre in the state, so that tea producers could sell their harvest locally.
He stated that the establishment of a tea auction centre in Tripura will increase marketing opportunities for the state's tea growers.

Currently, tea planters in Tripura transport their finished tea to auction centres in Guwahati or Kolkata to sell their product, driving up the price of tea.

"The administration is attempting to establish a tea auction centre in the state so that tea growers may sell their produce here," Tripura's chief minister remarked. Tripura produces 9-10 lakh kg of tea every year, accounting for about 10% of total tea output in India.

"The price of Tripura tea has grown from Rs 147 per kg to Rs 274 per kg, indicating that tea produced in the state is gaining ground at the auction centre," Saha added. Once the tea auction centre is established, the transportation cost of final product would be reduced ", he said after inaugurating Tripura's first gas-powered tea processing facility at the Durgabari Tea Estate in West Tripura district.

Tripura ranks fifth in the country in terms of tea output.

Because the state has already begun producing quality tea, the CM stated that measures will be taken to sell tea to Bangladesh."

Saha, who emphasized modernisation and better packaging facilities for the tea industry's overall success, stated that tea labourers were utilised as a "voting box." "The current administration is working hard to remove oppressed tea workers from the ballot box by providing all feasible help to tea planters and small tea producers," he added.

Assuring that the government is fully committed to the century-old tea sector, the chief minister announced a Rs 85 crore programme for the overall development of tea industry workers.

"The government has already initiated a procedure to grant a plot measuring 2 ganda' to each tea labourer residing on separate tea estates," he added, adding that plans are in the works to supply tea labourers with ration cards.

Santosh Saha, chairman of Tripura Tea Growth Corporation (TTDC), emphasised the tremendous effort done for the development of the tea sector since 2018.

Stating the multi-faceted advantages of the gas-based technology, Saha mentioned in his comments that “First of all, it has no adverse impact on the environment." Coal also requires a lot of labor charges for transpiration and carrying, from which we have been relieved.

Tripura Natural Gas Corporation has given a commitment to an uninterrupted energy supply, so we are also relieved from the headache of the availability of coal in the market. Apart from that, we may produce one kg made-tea for less than the previous time. Generally, Rs 17 is spent for one kg of tea”, said Saha.

"Tea labourers' wages have risen from Rs105 in 2017-18 to Rs176 in 2022-23." The transition from coal-based tea processing to gas-based tea processing is, certainly, significant.