Instant auction put off
Posted by barunroy on June 7, 2008
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| Siliguri Tea Auction Centre |
Siliguri, June 6: The Tea Board of India has asked Siliguri Tea Auction Centre to put on hold the implementation of the instant-auction system, after having given the go-ahead less than a fortnight ago.
Siliguri Tea Auction Committee (Stac) wanted to give the new system a trial run from June 10. Almost 74,500kg of tea (2,435 packages) worth Rs 70,000 has already been stocked in warehouses with sampling and cataloguing done.
Earlier, the Tea Board had said it gave the go-ahead to Stac because none of the stakeholders had objected to the proposal. But today, H.M. Dwibedi, the consultant to the Tea Board, said some brokers and producers’ associations (Indian Tea Association and Tea Association of India) in Calcutta expressed their reservations about the new system.
“They were of the opinion that the 2 per cent cash discount given to buyers at instant auctions may go against the sellers,” Dwibedi said. “We have convened a meeting on June 18, in which we will discuss all aspects once again. Till then, we have asked Stac to put its plans on hold.”
Dwibedi, however, agreed that instant auction would “reduce time and cost and bring in transparency in the auction system”.
“It is very embarrassing for us,” a Stac member said about the Tea Board’s decision to delay the implementation of instant auction.
“We are now worried about the huge quantity of tea that would be held up because of this delay,” Anand Agarwal, a seller-member of Stac said. “If the Tea Board allowed us to hold at least one instant auction, it would have helped us avoid delay in payments.” [The Telegraph]
