Agartala, Feb 19 (PTI) The proposed tea auction centre in Tripura is likely to be made operational by April, an official said on Thursday.

Chief Minister Manik Saha had laid the foundation stone for the state's first tea auction centre at Gurkhabasti in West Tripura district in March, 2024. At present, the country has seven tea auction centres.

"We have set a target to operationalise the first tea auction centre at Gurkhabasti by April," Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) chairman Samir Ranjan Ghosh told PTI.

He said buyers have been seeking a transport subsidy to make the auction centre viable, and paying heed to the demand, the TTDC has decided to provide Rs 4 per kg as a subsidy from its own pocket.

Ghosh said that at present, tea planters of the state send their produce to auction centres in Guwahati and Kolkata, which is time-consuming, besides incurring a hefty transportation cost.

"If we can establish a tea auction centre here, tea traders will not be required to send their products outside the state. The tea buyers and sellers will also get better price realisation at the proposed auction centre because the state's tea doesn't get priority at those auction centres," he said.

"Tripura is still considered a tea-producing state and is losing crores of State GST. If the auction centre is established, the state will turn into a tea-consuming state and thus be eligible to get State GST," he said.

The northeastern state, which has 54 operational tea estates, produces 90 lakh kg of finished tea per year. Over 30,000 people are directly involved in the sector. PTI PS SOM