Assam's tea industry is living two contradictory stories at once. India exported a record 280 million kilograms of tea in the last financial year, the highest volume in the country's history, even as the Tea Board of India shut down the Jorhat Tea Auction Centre — Assam's second-largest auction platform — leaving the state's biggest agro-industry with just one functioning auction house against three each in South India and West Bengal.
Background
Assam produces more than half of India's tea and directly employs several lakh workers across its roughly 800 tea estates, making the industry one of the state's largest formal employers and a politically sensitive sector that touches everything from wage policy to land rights. Tea sold in Assam moves largely through auction centres — physical and, increasingly, web-based marketplaces where registered buyers bid on lots offered by producers — a system meant to provide price transparency and a level playing field between large estates and small growers who together account for a growing share of Assam's total output.
For decades, Assam had two significant auction centres: the long-established Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) and the smaller Jorhat Tea Auction Centre (JTAC), also known as the Jorhat e-Marketplace, which was inaugurated in 2020 as India's eighth tea e-auction centre and run by mjunction services limited. The Tea Board of India has simultaneously been building a new web-based, pan-India tea auction platform under a Build-Own-Operate model, intended to bring the country's seven regional auction centres — spanning South India, Assam and West Bengal — onto a single uniform system.
Key Details
- The Tea Board of India discontinued the Jorhat Tea Auction Centre effective April 1, 2026, in a notification dated March 26, 2026, stating that maintaining a "separate auction model at Jorhat" was "no longer considered feasible" given the move toward a uniform pan-India platform.
- The closure drew sharp criticism from Assam tea growers and industry stakeholders, who said the decision was taken without adequate consultation.
- Jorhat handled approximately four million kilograms of tea in the year before its closure, making it Assam's second-largest auction platform after Guwahati; its shutdown left growers and buyers who used the centre facing higher transportation costs and added logistical strain from shifting operations to Guwahati.
- Tea Board Deputy Chairman C Murugan later stated publicly that the Jorhat centre had "not been closed down" and would "start functioning soon," explaining that the vendor contract had simply lapsed and not been renewed as the board worked to standardise all seven national auction centres, an explanation that has not fully reconciled with growers' accounts of a de facto shutdown.
- Separately, India recorded record tea exports of 280 million kilograms in the last financial year, the country's highest ever, with the Tea Board setting an aggressive target of 300 million kg going forward; the bulk of these exports went to Iran, Iraq, the UAE and countries of the former USSR.
- Despite the export record, unsold lots at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre surged to 36 percent in 2025-26, up sharply from 23 percent the previous year — meaning more than a third of tea offered for auction found no buyer, a sign of oversupply, weak domestic demand or pricing mismatches at the auction floor.
- Assam and West Bengal tea industry bodies have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a rollback of the government's mandatory auction sale rule — which requires 100 percent auction of dust tea grades — arguing it raises costs and squeezes already thin producer margins.
- The Indian Tea Association has also pressed for a government-backed Minimum Sustainable Price for made tea, warning that the combination of falling auction prices, rising low-cost imports and market volatility poses what it has called an existential threat to the industry in Assam and West Bengal.
At a Glance
| Indicator | Figure |
|---|---|
| India's tea exports, last financial year | 280 million kg (record high) |
| Tea Board's forward export target | 300 million kg |
| Unsold lots at Guwahati auction, 2025-26 | 36% (up from 23% the previous year) |
| Jorhat centre's annual volume before closure | ~4 million kg |
| Assam's remaining auction centres after Jorhat closure | 1 (Guwahati), vs. 3 each for South India and West Bengal |
| Assam's share of India's total tea production | Over 50% |
Local Impact
For Assam's tea estate owners, small tea growers and the workers who depend on the industry for their livelihoods, the mixed signals are unsettling in practical terms. Record national exports are a positive macro headline, but they mask a domestic auction system where more than a third of offered lots go unsold — meaning growers are producing tea they cannot move at the prices they need, squeezing already thin margins in an industry the Indian Tea Association has warned faces a genuinely existential threat from falling prices and rising import competition.
The Jorhat closure adds a further practical burden specifically for growers and small buyers in Upper Assam, who previously had a functioning local auction option and must now either absorb higher transportation costs to sell through Guwahati or wait for the Tea Board's promised pan-India platform to materialise — with no confirmed date. Small tea growers, who now account for a substantial and rising share of Assam's leaf production but typically operate with far thinner cash reserves than large estates, are especially exposed to any disruption in nearby, low-cost sale channels.
What Happens Next
The Tea Board's promised web-based, pan-India auction platform remains the central variable: if it launches on a workable timeline and genuinely restores Jorhat-equivalent access for Upper Assam growers, much of the current friction could ease. Industry bodies' request for a rollback of the mandatory dust-tea auction rule and their push for a Minimum Sustainable Price remain before the central government, with no confirmed policy response reported as of this writing. Meanwhile, growers and exporters will be watching whether the current export momentum toward West Asian and former-Soviet markets can be sustained, particularly given wider geopolitical instability in West Asia that industry voices have already flagged as a risk to shipping routes and demand from key buyer countries in the region.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the Tea Board close the Jorhat Tea Auction Centre?
The Tea Board said in a March 2026 notification that maintaining a separate auction model at Jorhat was no longer feasible as it moves toward a single, uniform, web-based pan-India tea auction platform covering all seven of the country's regional centres.
Has the Jorhat centre actually shut down for good?
Accounts differ. Industry stakeholders describe it as a de facto closure that has disrupted their operations since April 1, 2026, while the Tea Board's Deputy Chairman has stated the centre has not been permanently closed and will resume functioning, attributing the pause to a lapsed vendor contract rather than a shutdown.
How much tea moved through Jorhat before its closure?
Approximately four million kilograms in the year before the closure, making it Assam's second-largest auction platform after the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre.
How can India post record tea exports while Assam's auctions struggle?
The two trends reflect different parts of the supply chain. Record exports (280 million kg) measure overall volume shipped abroad, largely to Iran, Iraq, the UAE and former Soviet states, while a 36 percent unsold-lot rate at the Guwahati auction reflects weak clearing of tea offered specifically through the domestic auction system, pointing to oversupply or pricing mismatches at the auction floor rather than a lack of overall demand.
What is a Minimum Sustainable Price and why is the industry demanding one?
It refers to a government-backed price floor for made tea that the Indian Tea Association has proposed to protect producers from persistent price declines, rising low-cost imports and market volatility that it says threaten the industry's long-term viability in Assam and West Bengal.
What is the mandatory auction rule that industry bodies want rolled back?
A government directive requiring 100 percent auction of dust tea grades, which industry bodies argue raises costs and operational strain and have asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to withdraw.
What share of India's tea does Assam produce?
Assam accounts for more than 50 percent of India's total tea production, making it the country's largest tea-producing state by a wide margin.
Where does most of India's exported tea go?
According to the Tea Board, the majority of exports in the record year went to Iran, Iraq, the UAE and countries of the former USSR.
Sources
The Sentinel Assam, The Assam Tribune, Northeast Now (nenow.in), EastMojo, Hub News, Deccan Herald.