Jorhat tea auction centre will go live on International Tea Day (May 21) with more emphasis on quality.

Jorhat is Assam’s second tea auction centre after Guwahati.

The Jorhat e-Auction Platform will be run by mjunction in association with Tea Board India. The company, mjunction services limited, is a 50:50 venture promoted by SAIL and Tata Steel.

The auction will be held on May 21 from 11am. Sellers shall upload and submit Garden Invoices (GI) on the Jorhat platform latest by Tuesday at 11am. Sellers shall login to MJ (mjunction) platform with their usernames and passwords and upload the tea details to be put up for auction.

The minimum lot size per invoice, to be packed by sellers, shall be 5 packages.

The auction will be conducted once every week- every Monday.

Depending on volume and process improvement, it may be scheduled twice a week later.“With the auction platform, a new service has been planned in unprecedented times, in the middle of a pandemic with little change from the original model which shows the aspirations of the industry to meet uncertainties,” the official said, adding that many of the unique services have been given a final shape by mjunction by drawing upon its experience across a wide array of commodities.

The official said one of the novelties of the Jorhat e-Auction Platform would be quality vocabulary through which teas will be judged.

“A detailed quality vocabulary shall be provided to help buyers objectively arrive on quality. Specific comments shall be given on leaf appearance, infusion and liquor. There shall be further sub-parameters under each of the broad heads. A rating system from 1 to 10 shall be followed with 1 being low in quality and 10 being excellent,” the official said. At present, teas are valued based on physical appearance, which is done by brokers. “Sample distribution will start after normalcy but quality vocabulary would be available both then and now,” the official added.

“This will be a historic event for various reasons. The longstanding demand of the stakeholders for a separate auction platform in Assam is over. This step will help accommodate the larger volume of Assam tea which contributes more than 50 per cent of the country’s production.”

A weekly auction cycle shall be followed instead of the four weeks earlier. On the mjunction platform, all important activities like catalogue closing, auction day and buyers’ prompt day shall be carried out on a Monday.

“We are overwhelmed with the response of tea industry to the Jorhat e-marketplace. We are confident that with the support of the tea community, the tea e-marketplace would usher in increased reach, efficiency, and shorter cycle time for the good of the entire tea community,” said Vinaya Varma, managing director of mjunction.

The Guwahati Tea Auction Buyers Association says it will give a new experience to its members.