Tea Auctioning To Go Online From November

Auctioning of tea in the country would go online by November this year and the software and system testing for the project would be carried out this month, a senior Tea Board official said.

“Things are going on well. We will be carrying out software and system testing in September itself. And the e-auctioning of tea will commence from November,” said Roshni Sen, deputy chairperson, Tea Board.

“We could have implemented the e-auctioning solution much earlier but for Durga Puja festivities in West Bengal,” she added.

The Information Technology (IT) arm of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has developed the customised software application for e-auctioning of tea.

The Board expects that the IT solution for auctioning of tea in the country would expedite the process of futures trading in tea the country. It would not only provide a better price discovery, but also make the whole auctioning system smooth and transparent, Sen said.

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Auctioning centres are presently at Guwahati, Kochi, Siliguri and Jalpaiguri.

India is the leading producer of tea. Assam and West Bengal are two leading states from the east while Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka are the leading tea-producing states from south India.

All-India tea production is expected at 962 million kgs of tea in the year 2008.

The new auctioning mechanism would provide optimal market timings, standard contract descriptor, uniform price increments, price discovery, uniform lot size, automatic matching and audit trail.

“The system will bring on all auction participants on one platform, where they can carry out online transactions,” said C Kajwadkar, executive vice president, NSE.IT.

There are five important stakeholders in any public tea auction – auction organisers, seller/manufacturers, brokers/auctioneers, buyers and warehouse keepers.

A report was commissioned by the Tea Board in 2002 to private consultant, A F Ferguson, which had recommended an overhaul of the current manual outcry system.

It had recommended standardisation of processes across auction centres, establishment of a more robust price discovery mechanism and ensuring compliance with government/ Tea Board/ Tea Trade Association rules. (PTI)