On 5 October the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) held a one-off charity sale, with every rupee going to the Assam Chief Minister's Relief Fund to help families who lost homes, crops or livelihoods in this year's floods. It was the first special auction of its kind at the centre since 2012.
The lots fetched Rs 1.61 crore (around 16.1 million rupees), and a further Rs 65 lakh pledged by an industry member lifted the total to roughly Rs 2.26 crore. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took the gavel himself for 12 ceremonial lots, which together brought in close to 10 million rupees. Major Indian tea houses, including Society Tea and Wagh Bakri, were among the biggest buyers.
The sale is a reminder of how deeply black tea is woven into everyday life in Assam — growers, brokers and buyers turned a routine trading session into a show of support for the communities behind one of the world's best-known teas.
Source: The Assam Tribune