An Industry Summit on 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 today in New Delhi. The Summit brought together representatives of the fragrance, essential-oil, perfumery, incense, processing and export industries, scientific institutions, policymakers and regulatory agencies on a common platform to deliberate on the commercial prospects and export of Indian agarwood, particularly from the North Eastern Region (NER).

Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, Secretary, MDoNER, Shri Katikithala Srinivas, Joint Secretary, MDoNER, Shri Angshuman Dey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of MSME, Ms. Mercy Epao, Chairman, CHEMEXCIL, Shri Satish Wagh and other industry experts and leaders attended the Summit.

Resonating with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's perspective of “Yahi Samay Hai, Sahi Samay Hai,” MoS, MDoNER, Dr. Sukanta Majumdar appealed to industry leaders and experts to come forward and invest in the Agarwood sector.

He said that industry should come forward, invest, integrate cutting-edge extraction and distillation technology, build world-class brands and form global commercial alliances.

Shri Majumdar expressed his gratitude for Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, with emphasis on "Vocal for Local" to "Local to Global."

Shri K. Srinivas, Secretary, MDoNER, in his speech, expressed his appreciation for all stakeholders coming together for the joint cause of shaping the future of Indian agarwood and oud oil exports, global market trends, and quality standards. He further stated that the Ministry of DoNER is committed to realizing the potential of the Indian Agarwood Oil industry, its sustainability and global outreach.

During the event, Joint Secretary, MDoNER, Shri Angshuman Dey, read out a message from the Hon’ble Minister of DoNER, Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, highlighting his vision for the growth of the Agarwood Sector.

In his message, Shri Scindia made five specific requests to the industry partners. First, build long-term market linkages with FPOs and cluster-based organizations, giving growers the confidence of assured demand. Second, invest where the resource grows. Greater processing and distillation capacity within the Northeast will ensure that more value and opportunities remain with growers and communities. Third, deepen technology partnerships in advanced extraction, distillation and scientific cultivation to improve quality, yield and global competitiveness. Fourth, build a strong identity for Indian agarwood through standards, certification, traceability and origin branding. enabling producers to command the premium this extraordinary resource deserves. Fifth, invest in the story of Indian oud. Our agarwood carries the heritage, knowledge and livelihoods of the Northeast.

The Minister also said that our objective must be clear. The Northeast should not remain merely a supplier of raw material to global luxury markets but become the origin, the standard, the science and the brand of Indian agarwood.

He called upon all industry and institutional partners to work shoulder to shoulder towards building a strong, sustainable and globally competitive agarwood ecosystem in the North Eastern Region, creating greater value for growers while taking the fragrance of Indian oud to markets across the world and ensuring “Khushboo Bhi Humari Ho, Aur Naam Bhi Humara.”

North Eastern Region is Home to Over 96% of India’s Agarwood Trees -

Agarwood is the highly valued resinous aromatic wood of Aquilaria species, primarily processed into agarwood chips and agar oil for perfumery, incense and other premium products. India has an estimated 139.89 million agarwood trees, nearly 96.6% of which are located in the North Eastern Region. Assam alone accounts for about 114.3 million trees, followed by Tripura with about 15.15 million trees, with resources also present in Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya and other North Eastern States. Globally, agarwood has strong demand in the Gulf markets, while its use in premium fragrances and other high-value applications is also expanding across Europe, the United States and East Asia.

The growing policy focus on the sector is reflected in the recognition accorded to agar tree promotion in the Union Budget 2026-27 and the emphasis on focused export promotion at the 73rd NEC Plenary held in June 2026.

Roadmap for Agarwood Export Promotion from NER Released –

A key highlight of the Summit was the release of the Roadmap for Agarwood Export Promotion from the North Eastern Region, which provides a focused framework for coordinated action involving relevant Government agencies, North Eastern States, Export Promotion Councils and other stakeholders to facilitate exports, strengthen market linkages and promote regular, compliant and higher-value trade in agarwood and its products.

MDoNER has been playing a coordinating and facilitating role in bringing together concerned Central Ministries/Departments, North Eastern State Governments, scientific institutions and export-promotion agencies for development of the agarwood sector in the NER. The Ministry constituted an Inter-Ministerial Task Force in November 2023, whose recommendations were translated into a comprehensive roadmap for promotion of agarwood in the North Eastern Region. Subsequently, an Agarwood Steering Group was constituted in February 2025 to provide a standing mechanism for coordinated action across regulatory facilitation, resource development, technology, and infrastructure and market access.

Under the aegis of the approved Roadmap and coordinated action between NE State Governments and technical institutions (ICFRE-RFRI, FFDC, NIPER, NESAC) several key measures have been started which includes enhancement of the agarwood export quota, digitisation of the Certificate of Origin, facilitation for personal carriage of specified agarwood products, resource mapping in Assam and Tripura, empanelment of validated inoculum suppliers, and initiation of GI registration and standard development for agarwood oil. In parallel, MDoNER has supported value addition and market infrastructure through the Agarwood Cluster Development Project in Assam and Tripura under PM-DevINE and the Agarwood International Trade and Research Centre in Agartala under Schemes of NEC.

An Agarwood Export Promotion Cell was constituted in May 2026, bringing onboard the concerned Division of the Ministry of Commerce and the nominated Export Promotion Councils - CHEMEXCIL and SHEFEXIL - for focused action on export promotion, exporter facilitation and market development.

The Summit and the release of the Export Promotion Roadmap seek to take the sector into its next phase - from coordinated Government facilitation towards sustained industry-led market development for agarwood export promotion from the North Eastern Region.

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PS

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