Test cricket has always been known for its afternoon ritual of the tea break.. But it has taken the shortest version of the sport to bowl the beverage industry over after all these years.
The Tea Board of India has tossed the coin in favour of Tea20, a futures trading concept involving 20 qualities of tea considered among the best at the time of e-auctioning. NSE.IT, the information technology wing of the National Stock Exchange, has been asked to design the online auctioning programme. Tea Board officials said the cheerleader-spiced Twenty20 cricket inspired the idea to e-boost the cup that cheers.
"The programme is at a nascent stage, but we hope it will work wonders for futures trading of the best of Assam, Darjeeling and other qualities of Indian teas," said Rakesh Saini, executive director, Tea Board.
According to NSE.IT vice-president V. Rajaraman, India pioneered the e-auction concept that other tea producing countries are keen on adopting.
"Tea20 will add a new dimension to e-auctioning that makes bidding very simple and transparent besides ensuring fair price discovery mechanism with the ever-increasing volume of trade," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"Tea20 will add a new dimension to e-auctioning that makes bidding very simple and transparent besides ensuring fair price discovery mechanism with the ever-increasing volume of trade," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Tea20, though, isn't expected to be click-ready before Assam CTC (cut turn and curl) tea gets its exclusive logo. The logo, tea trade pundits said, would help ensure a stringent quality control mechanism for the export market where Assam tea is facing stiff competition from cheaper teas offered by Kenya and Sri Lanka.