The Tea Board of India will soon unveil a new system to auction tea on a pilot basis at Coonoor in the Nilgris.
Known as the “ascending” auction system, this is currently in place in Japan for fish auctions and in the Netherlands for floriculture.
Based on the recommendations of the Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore, the new platform has been developed for tea auctions.
Virtual training sessions are on for stakeholders.
The board may start the trial session in two or three weeks, M. Balaji, executive director of Tea Board said in Coonoor.
Explaining the benefits of the new system, he said that it would ensure transparency in pricing and fair play between buyers and sellers.
Sellers will have a say in the price fixed for the auction and buyers will have a choice. When the base price is fixed for a particular lot, the system will keep increasing the price at regular intervals till just one buyer is left to buy that lot.
