Kolkata:CTC(crush-tear-curl), the mass variety which holds over 90% of Indian tea market, is surely enjoying a never-seen-before run scoring world record prices for three times in two months. Scripting over half-a-dozen back-to-back record marks in CTC, Halmari, the undisputed CTC topper from the plush plains of upper Assamtea, broke the upper limit at the pan-India e-auction on Thursday and created a stir among the tea aficionados globally. Now, the industry is abuzz with the possibility of raising the e-auction upper circuit limit for CTC tea from Rs 600 to Rs 800 by theTea Board.

A batch of second flush Halmari Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP) CTC tea fetched a so-far-unassailable (it broke the upper circuit and halted the e-bidding in sale No. 28) world record price of Rs 600 a kg. Auctioned by J Thomas& Co, the particular batch of 130kg premium CTC tea has witnessed a fierce e-bidding race from as many as eight buyers. In the last week's sale (No. 27) held inKolkataon July 9,Guwahati-basedGolden Tea Housebought 255.8kgsof second flushHalmariBOP for Rs 556 a kg - over Rs 50 more than the last bestAssam CTCtea price in auctions.

Dissecting the character of the record-breaking tea,KrishanKatyal, CMD of city-based J Thomas & Co, the world's largest tea auctioneer, told TOI: "Truly, this surprisingly exclusive early second flush variety tea has its own attributes. It is full-bodied, pungent and turns into a golden cup. The garden's second flush is on the upswing and beginning to peak. We must now try to gauge the consumers' reaction on their costly buys."

According to Golden Tips, the current buyer, the premium tea lot produced byKolkata-basedAmarawatiTea-owned estate has a bright liquor, bouquet and unmatched aroma. It now plans to make this limited-edition tea available to its 1,250 exclusive tea connoisseurs through 11 tea boutiques across Darjeeling,Sikkim,Kolkataand a few other Indian cities in India and abroad.

"We are not a CTC player. We have been mainly buying intoplineDarjeeling varieties in the range of Rs 400 to Rs 12,000 a kg this year. But looking at theHalmari'sfame and prospect, we have decided to buy some top grade CTC batches as an experiment. The tea will be sold in 100gmspacks on a first-come-first-served basis to get the feedback at the same rate we bought (excluding tax, services and courier charges) in the auction. We will slowly get into thetoplineCTC domain now,"MadhavSarda, owner ofGolden Tips Tea, toldTOI.


An insider in the tea auction circuit, however, said the buyer must be trying to sell it as exclusive as possible.


Located 28km fromDibrugarhtown, the 374-hectare estate boasts a rich loamy soil suited to produce high quality tea from pedigree clones.AmitDaga, owner of the city-basedAmarawatiTea, told TOI: "I didn't have any idea on the upper circuit in e-auction. I am completely amazed by this."


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