Guwahati: The latest toast of Guwahati Tea Auction Centre has not only stirred the market but also chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal's curiosity.

CMO sources said Sonowal had asked a senior bureaucrat on Wednesday morning, before leaving for Silchar, about the Gold Special grade that fetched a record Rs 39,001 at the auctions here on Tuesday, Manohari tea estate which produced it and if he could taste the golden brew.

Sources said the garden owner had been intimated and would personally hand over the sample to the chief minister, who himself hails from the tea belt in Upper Assam. Sonowal hails from Chabua constituency in Dibrugarh district. Manohari garden is also in the district. A source said producing this grade of tea needs time but the garden, which belongs to Suntok company, would do its best to get it for the chief minister.

The record price had left both Dispur and the tea industry overwhelmed.

Additional chief secretary (industries and commerce) Ravi Capoor said the record price fetched by Gold Special grade was a good sign for the Assam tea industry. "It shows planters are taking interest in making high value tea," he added. An official at GTAC, which has, of late, become a hub for speciality tea, said excellent tea sold through the auction centre would encourage others to sell their tea through the centre.