The Tripura government has approved the ‘Tripura Agarwood Policy, 2021’ to promote the state’s agarwood business in a bid to develop a Rs 2000 crore economy in the state within 2025.
The project, which is worth Rs 100 crore, has been undertaken as part of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Vocal for Local’ initiatives of the Centre.
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The state government already received clearance from the ministry of environment, forest and climate change for planting agar trees.
State education minister Ratan Lal Nath said that the council of ministers approved ‘Tripura Agarwood Policy 2021’ worth Rs 100 crore recently.
“At present there are 54 lakh agar trees in Tripura. We have decided to plant more such trees in 4000 hectares by 2025 and bring about an economic revolution.”
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The funds for implementation of the policy have been arranged from different sources.
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Steps are being initiated to legalize marketing of agarwoods and oil used as chips and in perfume industries respectively in the gulf countries.
“The trading of agarwood is a highly profitable business. Currently, there are agar plantations in North Tripura district,” said Nath.
“Agarwood oil is also known as liquid gold. Our state has soil that is highly suitable for cultivation of these trees,” he said.
A litre of agar oil costs Rs 5 lakh in the global market. However, this oil can be extracted from only 10 to 15 per cent of these trees.
Meanwhile, the state forest department will establish the ‘Tripura Agarwood Board’ in October 2021 that will focus on developing the agar sector, setting up of the Tripura Agar Trade Centre and its testing laboratory in January 2022.