The Tea Board has announced that the district average price for green leaf in May in the Nilgiris will be ₹15.75 a kg. This price is 23 paise less than the April price, but ₹1.75 more than the price in May 2018.

The Tea Board’s Assistant Director, B Pagalavan, said that this was fixed based on the average sale price of CTC teas from bought-leaf factories at the auctions in April.

Bought leaf factories continue to voice their displeasure on such price fixation without considering the price they get for their black tea at the auctions. “We have been requesting the Board to fix the price for the green leaf at the end of each month based on the price we get at the auctions during the concerned month as that alone will help us to recover the raw material cost,” said Ramesh Bhojarajan, President, The Nilgiri Bought Leaf Tea Manufacturers’ Association.