<p>In what could cheer many in the "beleaguered" Assam tea industry, Manohari gold, a speciality tea produced in a garden in eastern Assam was sold on Tuesday at Rs. 50,000 per kg, said to be the highest ever tea price in public auction so far.</p>.<p>Rajan Lohia, owner of Manohari Tea Estate, where the tea was produced told DH that the handmade golden tea broke all auction price records at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre on Tuesday morning. "This orthodox tea is made with the finest tea clones and is considered as the finest tea ever produced and the taste is unmatched. We produced only 5-kg of golden tea as it requires a lot of care and time. Today 2-kg was bought by Saurav Tea Traders Private Limited," he said.</p>.<p>The golden tea is made from buds, plucked early morning between May and June, which is the second flush season. </p>.<p>Last year, a kilogram of Manohari Gold Tea was sold for Rs 39,001, a record which was soon broken by Golden Needle variety from the Donyi Polo Tea Estate in Arunachal Pradesh which fetched Rs 40,000 per kg.</p>.<p>Manohari tea having three gardens in eastern Assam's Dibrugarh and Sivasagar districts produce about 25-lakh kg tea every year. "Another 10-15 gardens are also making golden tea but we are very happy that our tea has been sold at the highest ever price. We hope this will give a push to a brand of Assam tea as the industry is going through a very tough phase due to the rising cost of production and low demand and prices. I want to request the government to intervene urgently and help us tide over the crisis," Lohia said.</p>.<p>With more than 800 big gardens, Assam produces nearly 52% of tea in the country. But many gardens are now going for speciality tea to compete with Darjeeling, Nilgiri and Chinese tea in the market.</p>
<p>In what could cheer many in the "beleaguered" Assam tea industry, Manohari gold, a speciality tea produced in a garden in eastern Assam was sold on Tuesday at Rs. 50,000 per kg, said to be the highest ever tea price in public auction so far.</p>.<p>Rajan Lohia, owner of Manohari Tea Estate, where the tea was produced told DH that the handmade golden tea broke all auction price records at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre on Tuesday morning. "This orthodox tea is made with the finest tea clones and is considered as the finest tea ever produced and the taste is unmatched. We produced only 5-kg of golden tea as it requires a lot of care and time. Today 2-kg was bought by Saurav Tea Traders Private Limited," he said.</p>.<p>The golden tea is made from buds, plucked early morning between May and June, which is the second flush season. </p>.<p>Last year, a kilogram of Manohari Gold Tea was sold for Rs 39,001, a record which was soon broken by Golden Needle variety from the Donyi Polo Tea Estate in Arunachal Pradesh which fetched Rs 40,000 per kg.</p>.<p>Manohari tea having three gardens in eastern Assam's Dibrugarh and Sivasagar districts produce about 25-lakh kg tea every year. "Another 10-15 gardens are also making golden tea but we are very happy that our tea has been sold at the highest ever price. We hope this will give a push to a brand of Assam tea as the industry is going through a very tough phase due to the rising cost of production and low demand and prices. I want to request the government to intervene urgently and help us tide over the crisis," Lohia said.</p>.<p>With more than 800 big gardens, Assam produces nearly 52% of tea in the country. But many gardens are now going for speciality tea to compete with Darjeeling, Nilgiri and Chinese tea in the market.</p>
