There is good news for Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) farmers in India. On November 5, 2025, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a notification to increase the export quota for this high value wood.
The export quota is valid from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2027. Under it, Andhra Pradesh can export 280 MT (Metric Tonnes), Tamil Nadu can export 900 MT, Karnataka can export 10 MT and Gujarat can export 100 MT. With this, India will now allow a total export of 1,290 MT of cultivated Red Sanders. Before this, DGFT had set the quota only for two states - 900 MT for Tamil Nadu and 280 MT for Andhra Pradesh - making a total of 1,180MT.
On November 4, the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) disbursed Rs 3 crore as part of the Access and Benefit-Sharing mechanism under the Biological Diversity Act to a total of 198 farmers growing Red Sanders in Andhra Pradesh, and the University of Andhra.
The beneficiaries are from 48 villages across four districts of Andhra Pradesh: Chittoor, Nellore, Tirupati, and YSR Kadapa. Farmers can expect to receive an amount ranging from Rs 33,000 to Rs 22 lakh, depending on the quantity of cultivated Red Sanders wood supplied to the users. This amount is higher compared to the sale value of the wood.
A few days back, on October 28, 2025, the NBA had released Rs 55 lakh to Red Sanders farmers in Tamil Nadu. Before this, Rs 48 crore was given to the forest departments of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and the Andhra Pradesh State Biodiversity Board for the protection and conservation of Red Sanders.
NBA is under the MoEFCC and Red Sanders comes under Schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
The heartwood of Red Sanders is in demand both in India and globally and is used for making furniture, handicrafts and musical instruments. The red dye obtained from the wood is used as a colouring agent in the textiles, medicine and food industries.
The tree is listed as ‘Endangered’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature and falls in Appendix II of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora which means that its trade is restricted. Despite national and global regulation and legal protection, illegal logging and timber extraction remain major conservation concerns for the species.
In 2015, the Expert Committee on Red Sanders created a comprehensive policy titled “Policy for Conservation, Sustainable Use, and Fair and Equitable Benefit Sharing Arising from the Utilisation of Red Sanders.”
This led to relaxation by the DGFT in 2019, which allowed the export of Red Sanders from cultivated sources.