Agartala, Jan 24 (IANS) Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday said that the Centre has set an ambitious target to boost Tripura’s annual agarwood industry turnover from the present Rs 100 crore to Rs 2,000 crore, underscoring the sector’s immense potential to drive economic growth, employment and exports in the state.

Addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of an Agarwood Cluster Common Processing Centre at Uttar Fulbari village in Kadamtala in North Tripura district, Scindia said the common processing centres will focus on quality assurance of agarwood products, primarily fragrance and flavour.

He said that a second Agarwood Cluster Common Processing Centre will come up at Golaghat in Assam and that the total cost of both centres will be Rs 80 crore.

The DoNER Minister said that, to ensure accurate traceability of agarwood plantations, the government would soon commence the process of registration for a Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

He said the government is taking concerted steps to eliminate middlemen, which will eventually benefit farmers directly from a monetary point of view.

Terming agarwood as “liquid gold”, Scindia said that one gram of agar is more expensive than gold and silver.

The DoNER Minister informed that the Centre has increased the export quota by six times and, accordingly, the export capacity of agarwood oil has been enhanced from 1,500 kg to 7,500 kg.

On the second day of his three-day visit to Tripura, the Union Minister visited the agar-cultivated village of Uttar Fulbari and also interacted with local residents.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha earlier said that the state government is setting up an integrated agarwood cluster at a cost of Rs 27.42 crore under the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE) project to strengthen the state’s agar-based economy and generate large-scale employment.

The Chief Minister said the proposed cluster will include facilities for nurseries, plantations, distillation units and skill development training for people associated with the agarwood industry.

Once operational, the project is expected to benefit more than 7,000 people, with women and youth being the primary beneficiaries, he said.

CM Saha pointed out that nearly 96 per cent of India’s agar trees are found in the Northeastern states and that Tripura has already been recognised as the country’s second-largest producer of agarwood, with around 1.5 crore agar trees currently growing in the state.

The Chief Minister informed that work on developing an agarwood market at Kadamtala in North Tripura district is nearing completion, which will allow buyers and sellers to trade directly.

He also said that an International Agar Trade and Research Centre, being developed with Rs 15 crore assistance from the North Eastern Council (NEC), will soon emerge as a hub for research and trade.

CM Saha said that the Tripura Agarwood Policy was adopted in 2021 to promote large-scale cultivation and processing and, as a result, the agar-based economy is expected to reach Rs 2,000 crore in the next four to five years.

The state is also promoting the production of perfume, premium incense sticks, agar-based spices and other value-added products to expand domestic trade.

–IANS

sc/pgh