Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Rare Assam tea bags sold for world record price in India

A RARE Assam tea has sold for a world record price at auction in India, highlighting a boom for speciality teas while the industry as a whole is in crisis.

A two-kilogram lot of Maijan Orthodox Golden tea sold for Rs 141,002 ($2,035) on Wednesday (31).


An unidentified Belgian trader bought the tea through a local agent, an auction official said.

Guwahati Tea Auction Centre secretary Dinesh Bihani said it was a record price at auction, shattering the Rs 50,000 a kilogram paid for some Manohari Golden tea the day before.

Buyers from Germany, Britain, the US and Iran are active in the Assam market and higher prices are believed to have been paid in private sales.

Maijan Orthodox comes from 100-year-old bushes on plantations owned by Assam Company India Limited, one of the world's oldest tea enterprises.

The company is bouncing back from having been declared bankrupt last year when it was taken over by Indian tycoon BR Shetty.

"Rich in aroma and briskness, Maijan Golden offers a unique and exotic experience," Assam Company India director Sanjay Jain said.

Production is a "tedious process" however, he added.

"The buds are plucked on specific dates depending on climatic conditions, rolled by hand and dried in sunshine.

"The whole process is very natural and there is no machine involved," Jain said.

He said only 35 kilograms of the tea was produced this year and only two kilos were offered at this week's auction.

"We are very happy with the record price. It indicates that there are buyers for quality tea and this is good news for the tea industry in Assam," he said.

Assam Company India has 14 gardens across the northeast state and produces more than 10 million kilograms a year of black teas and other varieties including Jasmine.

While Maijan Orthodox and other rare speciality teas from the region are booming, the Indian Tea Association (ITA) this week appealed for state and federal government aid to keep up prices of more ordinary products.

It wants authorities to ban the expansion of tea production in at least five key areas.

The association paid for newspaper adverts which said the tea industry, which employs more than one million people, is in crisis.

"While the average selling price has almost remained stagnant, the average cost of production is increasing leading to incurring of loss by the gardens," the appeal said.

The ITA also appealed for public funds to promote Indian tea and for the fixing of minimum prices at auction based on the cost of production.

Assam accounts for more than half of India's tea production with more than 650 million kilograms coming each year out of the state's 850 tea gardens.

 (AFP)

More For You

LET Mining: The world's leading cloud mining platform, the best way to earn passive income

LET Mining: The world's leading cloud mining platform, the best way to earn passive income

Today, as the digital economy continues to evolve, passive income is no longer a wealth tool exclusive to the rich, but something that everyone can touch and participate in. With the integration of blockchain technology and green energy, LET Mining is providing global users with a new way of passive income: no operation, zero technical threshold, and daily income.

What is LET Mining?

LET Mining is an innovative cloud mining service platform that simplifies the complex cryptocurrency mining process into a few simple steps through cloud computing technology, allowing ordinary users to easily participate in digital currency mining and obtain stable passive income without purchasing expensive hardware equipment or mastering professional technical knowledge.

Keep ReadingShow less
JLR Tata

A logo is pictured outside a Jaguar Land Rover new car show room in Tonbridge, south east England.

JLR Q1 sales dip as US tariffs hit exports

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported a 10.7 per cent drop in sales for the April–June quarter, as a temporary pause in shipments to the United States and the phase-out of Jaguar’s legacy models weighed on volumes.

The company, owned by India’s Tata Motors, sold 87,286 units to dealers worldwide during the quarter, compared to 97,755 units in the same period last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

BANGLADESH, the world's second-biggest garment manufacturer, aims to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump's punishing tariffs kick in next week, said the country's top commerce official.

Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, which Trump used as the reason for imposing painful levies in his "Liberation Day" announcement.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Bond yields ease following Starmer’s support for Reeves

THE COST of UK government borrowing fell on Thursday, partially reversing the rise seen after Chancellor Rachel Reeves became emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions.

The yield on 10-year government bonds dropped to 4.55 per cent, down from 4.61 per cent the previous day. The pound also recovered slightly to $1.3668 (around £1.00), though it did not regain all its earlier losses.

Keep ReadingShow less