Parliament Question: Promotion of Agarwood Plantation and Trade in Assam

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1342 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.07.2025 Promotion of Agarwood Plantation and Trade in Assam

1342. SHRI AMARSING TISSO:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to

state:

(a) whether the Government has taken any steps to promote sustainable Agarwood plantation and trade in Assam, especially in tribal areas like Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao;

(b) if so, the details of such initiatives; and

(c) the extent to which local tribal cultivators have benefited from these measures? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a) to (c) For sustainable utilization of Agarwood and its plantation by growers, promotion of trade and industry etc, the State Government of Assam has notified “The Assam Agarwood Promotion Policy 2020”. The State of Assam has also exempted Agarwood under Assam Tree Outside Forest (Sustainable Management) Rules, 2022 from taking prior permission for felling and removal of its out-turn and its movement outside the State of Assam within the North-Eastern States. During Amrit Brikshya Andolan 2023 and 2024, free seedlings of Agarwood have been supplied by Assam Forest Department to public for plantation under Jan Bhagidari Model.

For promotion of Agarwood in North-Eastern Region, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region constituted an Inter-Ministerial Task Force in 2023 involving concerned Ministries, concerned State Governments and other stakeholders. Based on the recommendation of the Task Force, various steps have been taken by the Government to promote sustainable Agarwood plantation and trade in the concerned States including in the State of Assam which includes a roadmap comprising various actions, constitution of Agarwood Steering Group, setting up Export Facilitation Committee, capacity building workshops with the stakeholders, roll out of centralized portal for issuing export license, etc.

Further, based on the scientific study, the Central Government has also notified the Export Policy condition on 20th January 2025 to enhance export quota of Agarwood Chips and Powder obtained from artificially propagated sources from 25,000 kg per annum to 1,51,080 kg per annum and the export quota of Agar oil from 1,500 kg per annum to 7,050 kg per annum.

These steps taken for promotion of Agarwood involve local people in many ways such as agarwood chip cutter and processing, inoculation technician, agarwood value chain etc apart from involvement of them in plantation on their land.

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