(Image source from: Why India government will export seized red sandalwood?})

The government of India has found a lucrative way to dispose off seized red sandalwood. The highly valuable red sandalwood seized from smugglers will be exported to earn revenue.

This is the first time that the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) an agency of the Central Excise and Customs will export the valuable item within the next few months.

Apparently, the DRI has obtained an in-principle approval from the ministry of finance and environment to export this prohibited fragrant wood. Red sanders is one of the items listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

However, there is a catche to the export of this valuable item. The permission obtained has been granted for the "seized stock" only that is at the custody of the authorities.

Sandalwood business is highly lucrative for smugglers in India as the red sanders are in great demand in China, where it's sold at a high price. In Chin, the fragrant sandlewood is used in the cosmetics industry, for making musical instruments, and for making furniture for its five star hotels.

Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and north Tamil Nadu are the main producers of red sandlewood.

Red sanders can fetch a price of up to Rs10 crore a tonne in China, while in India the same would cost around Rs15 lakh to Rs20 lakh per tonne, according to Customs officials. And a 25-year-old red sandlewood tree, of medium sized, could command a price of Rs 80,000 to Rs1 lakh in the international market.

Over the years, the stock of seized red sanders has been steadily growing. At present the western zone has a stock of around a few thousand kilograms of red sandlewood, according to a senior DRI officer. As the wood has already been cut, it won't benefit anyone by stocking it in a storehouse.
So the DRI sent a proposal to export the seized red sanders and received approval of the same in- principle. Only the finance ministry can take a policy decision in this matter.

The incidence of smuggling in red sandlewood has increased four times from 24 in 2011 to 85 in 2013 in India. In January, 2014 around 10 metric tonnes of red sanders was seized by the DRI from Coimbatore.

(AW: Pratima Tigga)