North Fulkabari, Tripura, January 24: Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday laid the foundation stone of an ₹80-crore Agarwood Value Chain Development Scheme at North Fulkabari in Tripura, aimed at strengthening the region’s agarwood economy and directly linking farmers with global markets.
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| Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia |
The project was launched during the Union Minister’s three-day visit to Tripura and Assam, and seeks to develop the entire agarwood value chain—from cultivation and processing to branding and exports—while eliminating intermediaries and ensuring better returns for growers.
Addressing the gathering, Scindia said the agarwood sector could emerge as a flagship example of the ‘Local to Global’ vision under the leadership of Narendra Modi. He noted that Tripura and Assam together form the core of India’s agarwood production base.
Under the scheme, two Central Processing Centres (CPCs) will be established—one in Tripura and another in Golaghat, Assam. These centres will focus on processing, value addition, branding and marketing of agarwood products, enabling farmers to realise the full value of their produce.
“The objective is clear: remove intermediaries and ensure that farmers benefit directly from international demand,” the Union Minister said.
Scindia said multiple initiatives are already underway to make the agarwood sector globally competitive. These include initiation of the Geographical Indication (GI) tagging process, a six-fold increase in export quotas, expansion of agarwood chip exports from 25,000 kg to 1.5 lakh kg, an increase in agarwood oil exports from 1,500 kg to 7,500 kg, and the integration of permissions and approvals on a digital platform to enable direct farmer–buyer linkages.
He added that Tripura’s agarwood production capacity is expected to increase by up to 50 per cent under the scheme. India currently has an estimated 150 million agarwood trees, nearly 90 per cent of which are located in the northeastern states, he noted.
Describing Fulkabari’s agarwood ecosystem as a model of the ‘One District One Product (ODOP)’ initiative, Scindia said the sector has the potential to significantly transform rural livelihoods. He projected that Tripura’s agarwood market alone could achieve an annual turnover of ₹2,000 crore within the next three to four years, driven by value addition and direct access to international buyers.
The Union Minister also highlighted that buyer–seller meets are already being organised, including recent interactions with purchasers from Qatar, where farmers were directly connected with overseas buyers.
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Scindia said the agarwood initiative forms part of a broader development push in Tripura. On Friday, he laid foundation stones and inaugurated projects worth ₹220 crore, reviewed the Agartala Government Inter College project worth ₹192 crore and the Maternal and Child Health Hospital project worth ₹200 crore. On Sunday, he is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the ₹280-crore Matabari Tourism Circuit.
Expressing confidence in the partnership with the Tripura government led by Manik Saha, the Union Minister said the agarwood sector would gain global recognition and contribute meaningfully to the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
