Key Points
This move aims to transform India from a timber importer to an exporter, boosting farmers' income and improving soil carbon content.IANSRepresentational..
The Economic Advisory Council to the PM (EAC-PM) has suggested deregulating the felling and transit of high-value species of timber trees like Teak, Gurjan and Mernati as it lays out a roadmap for India to become timber exporter instead and enhance the farmers income...
In a working paper on Agroforestry: Missing Trees for the Forests,, EAC-PM member Sanjeev Sanyal proposed creating a single window clearance at the central level with a uniform process to obtain transit and felling permits while recommending government mandate proving ownership of trees instead of ownership of land to put India on the path to going from a teak importer to a leading exporter...
Consequently, India has become a net importer of timber with the country imported over $2.7 billion worth of timber in 2023, which equals almost 12% of all agro based imports for the same year, it said.. Quoting a study, the report said between 2010 and 2019, 42% of total timber imports into India came from at-risk countries, while 80% of teak and more than 70% of Gurjan came from high-risk countries or conflict-affected states...
The policy change proposed will put India on the path to going from a teak importer to a leading exporter, enhancing farmers income and improving the carbon content of the soil, the paper said...
