The Grand Charity Tea Auction organized by the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre witnessed massive participation from both big and small tea companies with around 27,000 kg of tea being auctioned for approximately Rs 1.8 crore. The Mouling mark tea fetched as much as Rs 73,000 per kg during the last bid of the day at the ITA Complex here late evening today. The Wagh Bakri Tea Group, the Gujarat-headquartered tea giant, made the successful bid for the 38 kg of tea from the Mouling Tea Processors at Rs 73,000 per kg, which is being touted as a record bid (though as yet unconfirmed). The first session at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre complex had fetched around Rs 70 lakh during the afternoon session. The proceeds from the auction will go to three organizations working for the differently-abled. They are city-based Shishu Sarathi, Vaani of Kolkata and the Moran Blind School. The auction was held to coincide with the World Disability Day. Speaking during the occasion, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that while Assam Tea is renowned across the world, the tea sector of the State faces certain issues like poor marketing, branding and packaging. “We have to learn from the best practices in other countries like Kenya, China and Sri Lanka,” he said. He expressed happiness that Assam Tea is gaining popularity and its sale is increasing in places like Gujarat and South India. “However, we will face more and more competition in the days to come and we have to be prepared to face them by adopting the latest technology and also crop diversification,” he said. Appreciating GTAC’s work for the help of differently-abled people through the auction, Gogoi said his government would also set up a state-level foundation for the benefit of such people with an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore. Commerce and Industry Minister Pradyut Bordoloi thanked all the participating companies and producer groups. Source: assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=dec0413/at07