Guwahati, June 14: At the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC), today?s sale number 24 fetched Rs 108 a kg. The sale also marked a new chapter in the books of the loss-making Assam Tea Corporation Limited (ATCL).

Tea from the public sector unit?s Cinnamara garden and three ATCL estates went on sale at the GTAC after a gap of more than two years. The company, which registered at the GTAC recently, had suspended operations in 2003 in face of a financial crisis resulting from huge accumulated losses.

Sources said Cinnamara garden teas sold for Rs 108 per kg, which is good considering that it got an average price of Rs 41 in 2002-03. ?This is a good sign after two years of suspended operations. The fact that Cinnamara tea commanded a good price indicates that the garden has maintained quality despite pressing problems,? a GTAC source said.

Tea from three other gardens have got more than Rs 80 per kg, which is equally good, considering the average price of Negriting teas in 2002-03 was only Rs 51. Sources said the sales would boost the ATCL?s chances of making a turnaround by establishing the fact that its teas still command good prices and prove to the authorities concerned that all is not over for the state government undertaking.

?The fact that ATCL registered itself once again showed that the management is confident of bouncing back,? a source said.

At present, all the 14 tea gardens under ATCL together have liabilities to the tune of Rs 145 crore, which include provident fund payments and bank loans.

During the last three financial years, including the last fiscal, the state government provided the ATCL total assistance of Rs 15.30 crore. During its 30-year existence, the ATCL could register profits only in nine financial years.

However, the ATCL has come out with a revival strategy and shelved its earlier plan to sell its gardens after over two years of a futile search for potential buyers for its 14 gardens.

The state government had recently sold the sick corporation?s head office in Guwahati to the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation for Rs 5 crore.