Tea Board reverts to English auction model in North India
The Tea Board has revised the timeline for implementation of the erstwhile English auction at all registered auction centres in North India.
Sale no 43 has been dropped by the organisers due to Durga Puja, which will be celebrated during October 23-28. Installation of servers for the English auction and flag change activity for conversion to the English auction model will be carried out during this period, a Tea Board circular said.
Sale no 44 is also proposed to be dropped at auction centres in North India. It is scheduled to be held from October 30 to November 3. Pre-auction activities for sale 45 will be carried out during this time.
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Same norms to continue
Live auctions following the English model will be carried out at all auction centres in North India, including Kolkata, Guwahati and Siliguri, beginning with sale 45 on November 6. All prevalent rules of the erstwhile English auction would be followed, with the exception of two rules, namely, the minimum lot size rule (Rule 34) and the division of lot size (Rule 44) for CTC tea.
The amended lot size would be 20 packages for the manufacturing period from June to October, for factories producing more than 2.5 lakh kg. It was 30 packages earlier. From November to May and January to December, the minimum lot size is unchanged at 5 packages.
For factories producing less than 2.5 lakh kg, the minimum lot size is unchanged at five packages during the manufacturing period from January to December.
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The notification also said division of lots to be followed for CTC tea from sale 45 in North India will be: up to 20 packages : l buyer; anything between 21-40 packages: 2 buyers; and between 41 and more packages : 3 buyers.
However, the board also clarified that the Bharat auction model would be continued in South India, along with existing rules of minimum lot size and divisibility of lot.