Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jyotiraditya Scindia announced plans to increase Tripura’s annual agarwood industry turnover from Rs 100 crore to Rs 2,000 crore. He highlighted the sector’s potential to drive economic growth, employment, and exports in the state during an event in North Tripura district.
Scindia laid the foundation stone for an Agarwood Cluster Common Processing Centre in Uttar Fulbari village, emphasizing quality assurance for agarwood products like fragrance and flavor. Another processing center is set to be established in Golaghat, Assam, with a total cost of Rs 80 crore.
To ensure traceability of agarwood plantations, the government will initiate the registration process for a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. Efforts are also underway to remove middlemen, benefiting farmers directly. Scindia described agarwood as “liquid gold,” noting its high value compared to gold and silver.
The Centre has increased the export quota for agarwood oil sixfold, enhancing the export capacity from 1,500 kg to 7,500 kg. Chief Minister Manik Saha highlighted the state’s integrated agarwood cluster project under the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE) to boost the agar-based economy and create employment opportunities.
Saha mentioned that Tripura is the country’s second-largest agarwood producer, with around 1.5 crore agar trees in the state. The state government is working on an agarwood market in North Tripura district and an International Agar Trade and Research Centre to support research and trade activities. The Tripura Agarwood Policy aims to expand the agar-based economy to Rs 2,000 crore in the coming years by promoting various agarwood products domestically.
