The Centre has stepped up efforts to promote agarwood and agarwood oil exports from the North Eastern Region (NER), with the government highlighting the region’s dominance of India’s agarwood resource base and its potential to emerge as a major global supplier of premium oud products.
An Industry Summit on the Prospects & Export of Agarwood Oil from India, organised by the Chemicals and Allied Products Export Promotion Council (CHEMEXCIL) in association with the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER), was held in New Delhi on Tuesday. The event brought together representatives from the fragrance, essential-oil, perfumery, incense, processing and export industries, along with scientists, policymakers and regulatory agencies.
A key outcome of the summit was the release of the Roadmap for Agarwood Export Promotion from the North Eastern Region, which lays out a framework for coordinated action to facilitate exports, strengthen market linkages and promote regular, compliant and higher-value trade in agarwood and its products.
Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Dr. Sukanta Majumdar urged industry stakeholders to invest in the sector and adopt advanced extraction and distillation technologies. He called for the creation of world-class brands and global commercial partnerships to take Indian agarwood from local production centres to international markets.
Emphasising the vision of moving from “Vocal for Local” to “Local to Global”, Majumdar said the agarwood sector could contribute to the broader objective of building a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Northeast accounts for 96.6% of India’s agarwood trees
The North Eastern Region is home to an estimated 96.6 per cent of India’s agarwood trees, making it the country’s principal resource base for the highly valued aromatic wood.
India is estimated to have around 139.89 million agarwood trees. Assam accounts for approximately 114.3 million trees, while Tripura has around 15.15 million trees. Agarwood resources are also found in Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya and other northeastern states.
Agarwood is the resinous aromatic wood of Aquilaria species and is processed into agarwood chips and agar oil, which are widely used in perfumery, incense and other premium products.
Global demand for agarwood is particularly strong in Gulf markets, while its use in high-value fragrances and related products is expanding in Europe, the United States and East Asia.
The growing policy attention to the sector is also reflected in the recognition of agar tree promotion in the Union Budget 2026-27 and the focus on export promotion at the 73rd NEC Plenary held in June 2026.
Government seeks shift from raw material supplier to global brand
A message from Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, read out at the summit by MDoNER Joint Secretary Angshuman Dey, outlined five priorities for developing the sector.
The minister called on industry to establish long-term market linkages with Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and cluster-based organisations to provide growers with greater certainty of demand.
He also urged companies to establish more processing and distillation capacity within the Northeast so that a greater share of value generated from agarwood remains with growers and local communities.
Greater investment in advanced extraction, distillation and scientific cultivation was identified as another priority to improve product quality, yields and international competitiveness.
The government also stressed the importance of standards, certification, traceability and origin branding to establish a distinct identity for Indian agarwood and enable producers to command premium prices.
Scindia further called for greater efforts to promote the heritage, knowledge and livelihoods associated with northeastern agarwood in international markets.
The stated objective is to ensure that the Northeast does not remain merely a supplier of raw material to global luxury markets, but emerges as the origin, standard, scientific hub and brand for Indian agarwood.
Export roadmap builds on earlier government initiatives
MDoNER has been coordinating efforts involving Central ministries and departments, northeastern state governments, scientific institutions and export promotion agencies to develop the agarwood sector.
An Inter-Ministerial Task Force was constituted in November 2023, with its recommendations subsequently translated into a comprehensive roadmap for promoting agarwood in the Northeast.
In February 2025, an Agarwood Steering Group was constituted to provide a continuing mechanism for coordination on regulatory facilitation, resource development, technology, infrastructure and market access.
Several measures have since been initiated under the roadmap through coordination between northeastern state governments and technical institutions including ICFRE-RFRI, FFDC, NIPER and NESAC.
These include enhancement of the agarwood export quota, digitisation of Certificates of Origin, facilitation for personal carriage of specified agarwood products, resource mapping in Assam and Tripura, empanelment of validated inoculum suppliers, and work towards GI registration and standards for agarwood oil.
Infrastructure and export promotion receive fresh push
The government is also supporting value addition and market infrastructure through the Agarwood Cluster Development Project in Assam and Tripura under PM-DevINE.
An Agarwood International Trade and Research Centre has also been established in Agartala under schemes of the North Eastern Council.
To give greater focus to international market development, an Agarwood Export Promotion Cell was constituted in May 2026. It brings together the concerned division of the Ministry of Commerce and nominated Export Promotion Councils, including CHEMEXCIL and SHEFEXIL.
The cell is expected to support export promotion, exporter facilitation and market development for agarwood products.
From government facilitation to industry-led exports
MDoNER Secretary K. Srinivas said the summit provided an opportunity for stakeholders to jointly shape the future of Indian agarwood and oud oil exports while addressing global market trends and quality standards.
The ministry, he said, remains committed to unlocking the potential of India’s agarwood oil industry, ensuring its sustainability and expanding its global reach.
With more than 96 per cent of India’s agarwood resource base located in the Northeast, the region has a natural advantage in developing an integrated value chain covering cultivation, processing, distillation, branding and exports.
The latest roadmap is intended to move the sector beyond government-led facilitation towards sustained, industry-driven market development, with the ultimate aim of creating greater value for northeastern growers and establishing Indian agarwood as a recognised product in global fragrance and premium markets.
