Inaugurating the tea auction centre in Sreemangal, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed today said the second auction centre after Chottagram would help minimize the cost of tea producers.
"Producers faced difficulties to auction off their tea in the lone centre in Chottagram and the new centre would minimize the problem," he added, BSS reported.
The minister opened the second tea auction centre at Sreemangal upazila in Moulvibazar through video conference from his secretariat office. In the first auction in Sreemangal, a kg tea was sold at Taka 11,000.
Tofail said the government took the initiative of opening the new centre following the demand from tea producers and implemented the commitment of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Mentioning that tea is being produced on 64,886 hectares of land, he said with the initiative of the government, now tea cultivation has been expanded in Panchagar, Takhurgaon, Lalmonirhat and Dinajpur districts.
Bangladesh Tea Board Chairman Major General Md Jahangir Al Mustahidur Rahman, Tea Producer and Businessmen Association Convener Dr A Momen, Moulvibazar Zila Parishad Chairman M Azizur Rahman and Deputy Commissioner M Tofayel Islam, among others, were present at the auction centre.