After 147 years, the Kolkata tea auction system went electronic on Wednesday. That’s a global first, too.
KOLKATA: After 147 years, the Kolkata tea auction system went electronic on Wednesday. That’s a global first, too. The transition from the manual outcry system to mouseclicks has been smooth, if the first day of e-trade is anything to go by.
Other tea auction centres in India at Guwahati, Siliguri, Jalpaiguri, Kochi, Coimbatore and Coonoor will also go online by January 27, 2009, speeding up transactions significantly.
The e-auction system has been designed and built by NSE.IT, a subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange to help tea buyers such as Hindustan Unilever, Tata Tea, Wagh Bakri, J V Gokul, Godfrey Philips and others bid online.
“It’s time for a transition to the new-age system. If everything is stabilised by August next year, we should have a national e-platform or a cybermarket for tea, where boundaries will be meaningless. There is no point in having a fragmented auction centre system. Since we won’t have physical auction centres, they can be converted into warehouses and distribution centres, ” said Jairam Ramesh, Union minister of state for commerce, industries and power, inaugurating the e-trade.
Basudeb Banerjee, chairman, Tea Board, said some of the big international tea auction centres like Mombasa and Colombo will also go electronic soon.
“The entire tea world is closely watching us make this change. The NSE is now working on a settlement system and Deloitte is working on a self-sustaining model,” Banerjee said.
With the last bang of the hammer, Jairam Ramesh set the first e-auction rolling and 1,000 kg of tea was sold on Wednesday, with five buyers making it to the top -Gujarat Tea Processors and Packers, Duncans, Asian Tea Exports, M K Corporation and Bajaj Enterprises.
Currently, about 500 million kg of tea, or 50% of the total tea produced in the country, is exchanged through the traditional auction system. According to Jairam Ramesh, there is a possibility that 5% more tea would migrate from the non-auction (private sales) to the e-auction system. Better quality Assam and Darjeeling teas are likely to become a part of the electronic system, he said.
g_nandini@dnaindia.net
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