The committee that runs Jalpaiguri’s North Bengal Tea Auction Centre (NBTAC), where no sale has been conducted since 2015, has decided to apply for a bank loan to meet the expenses.

Since 2005, when the centre was opened, it had been facing the crisis of less inflow of tea. The centre somehow managed to function for around 10 years in an erratic manner but the auction of tea stopped in 2015.

“We are in an acute financial crisis and could not bear the regular expenditure like power bills and other maintenance. Also, salaries of three employees of the centre have been due for over a year now. That is why we approached the district magistrate, who is also the committee’s chairman, today (Tuesday). It has been decided that we will draw loans from banks against some fixed deposits we have with the banks to meet the expenditure at least till March next year,” said Purajit Bakshi Gupta, the vice-chairman of the committee.

Sources said there were three employees — a supervisor and two house-keepers — who had not received their salaries for months now.

“The committee has also planned to reduce the employees’ salaries. Also, one of the house-keepers has been told not to join his duties from October 1,” said a source.

In north Bengal, there is a second tea auction centre in the neighbouring town of Siliguri. It is the oldest centre and handles a major chunk of tea produced in the region.

“In south India, there are auction centres in neighbouring towns of Coonoor and Coimbatore and both have been functioning well for years. We fail to understand why the auction centre in Jalpaiguri did not become viable even though tea production has increased in north Bengal over the years,” said Bijoygopal Chakraborty, a member of the auction committee.

Abhishek Kumar Tiwary, the district magistrate of Jalpaiguri, said: “The committee will use the fixed deposits to draw loan from bank to meet the fund crisis at the auction centre.”