Sandalwood

1.1 What is sandalwood?

Sandalwood is a fragrant tree. Its scientific name is Santalum album. People also call it East Indian sandalwood or chandan. It belongs to the family Santalaceae. The heartwood gives a rich scent, and the wood yields a costly oil.

1.2 Where does it grow in India?

Mostly in the south. More than 90% of the trees lie in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Together they cover about 8300 sq km. Karnataka alone has almost 60 per cent of the natural extent.

1.3 Why is it a special tree?

It lives off other plants. A tree like this is called a hemi root parasite. Its roots tap into the roots of a host. One sandal tree can feed on over 300 kinds of plants. So farmers grow it alongside other trees, not alone.

It also matters in daily life. Sandalwood has an important role in the religious life of Indians. Its oil has a significant place in perfumery.

2.1 What does Royal Tree mean?

It means the ruler owned the tree. In 1792 the Mysore state declared sandalwood a Royal Tree. From then, harvest and sale of sandalwood stayed a government monopoly. A monopoly means only one seller, here the state. Tipu Sultan, then ruler of Mysore, is named for this step.

2.2 Did a landowner own a sandalwood tree on his land?

No. The owner of the land had no rights over the tree. Yet he was responsible for guarding it. This even applied to a tree that grew on its own on private land.

2.3 Why was this a bad deal for the owner?

He bore the duty but got no reward. A farmer had no reason to plant more trees. A tree on his land was a risk, not an asset. That weak incentive left owners with little reason to plant.

3.1 What did the 2001 law do?

It let private people grow sandalwood. This was the Karnataka Forest (Amendment) Act, 2001. But there was a catch. The government still controlled the trade. A grower could plant, yet could not sell freely.

3.2 What happened in 2008?

Karnataka let two state-backed agencies buy directly from private growers. They were Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL) and Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation (KSHDC). It was a small breakthrough.

3.3 What changed in 2022?

The Karnataka Forest (Amendment) Rules of 2022 let farmers sell to any entity other than the State Government or its undertakings. That was a major shift. A grower could now look for a better price.

3.4 Did other States follow?

Tamil Nadu amended its Forests Act in 2002. The change let people grow sandalwood on patta lands. Patta land is land held by a private owner with a title. Ownership of such trees, earlier with the government, passed to the landowner. Felling and sale stayed with the government.

4.1 Where did Mysore Sandal Soap begin?

It began with an oil factory. A Government Soap Factory was set up in 1916 in Bangalore by the Mysore king, Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. It used sandalwood oil as the main ingredient. The famous soap was born in 1918.

4.2 Who helped build it?

The king’s Dewan, Sir M. Visvesvaraya, led the push to industrialise the state. A young scientist, S. G. Sastry, was sent to the UK for training in oil technology. Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science helped with distilling the oil.

4.3 Who makes the soap today?

Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited, or KSDL. It still makes Mysore Sandal soap. The company says it is the only maker in the world to use natural sandalwood oil for soap.

5.1 How much did output fall?

It fell sharply. India made about 4,000 tonnes a year in the 1960s. By 2014 it made just 350 tonnes. A 2022 report counts about 130,000 mature trees across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Figures from the ICFRE-IWST site and Down To Earth, listed under the cards.

5.2 Why is the tree scarce?

Smuggling and illegal felling hurt the tree. IUCN, the global body that rates species, classed Indian sandalwood as vulnerable in 1997. It warned that trees over 30 cm across had become rare.

5.3 What does the Veerappan story show?

The forest brigand Veerappan fell in 2004. The Tamil Nadu police Special Task Force led Operation Cocoon. The deeper lesson is the monopoly: a rule with little reward for owners left the tree open to theft.

5.4 Is India now an importer?

Yes, in part. India imported nearly 20,000 kg of sandalwood from Australia from 2019 to 2024, worth ₹100 crore. In December 2023 KSDL said it imported 4,000 kg of Australian oil the year before. It planned to raise this to 7,000 kg this year. It blamed felling and smuggling.

6.1 Is Red Sanders the same as sandalwood?

No. They are two different trees. Red Sanders is Pterocarpus santalinus. Sandalwood is Santalum album. Newspapers often say red sandalwood for Red Sanders. The name misleads.

6.2 Where does Red Sanders grow?

In a few districts of Andhra Pradesh. It is endemic there. Endemic means found naturally nowhere else. It grows in a distinct tract of forest in the Eastern Ghats.

6.3 How is Red Sanders protected?

It is listed in Appendix II of CITES, the international trade convention, since 1994. IUCN placed it back in the Endangered category after a 2021 assessment. It had been Near Threatened in 2018. The assessment found a population decline of 50 to 80 per cent over three generations.

Facts from the ICFRE-IWST site, Down To Earth and PIB, listed under the cards.

6.4 What changed for farmers?

In November 2023 the CITES Standing Committee removed Red Sanders from the RST process. RST means the Review of Significant Trade. The removal was unconditional. It helps farmers who grow Red Sanders and want to export plantation wood.

7.1 What did the Union Budget 2026-27 say?

It named sandalwood among high value crops. The Finance Minister spoke of supporting crops such as coconut, sandalwood, cocoa and cashew in the coastal areas.

7.2 What is Karnataka doing?

It is signing plantation deals. KSDL signed MoUs with 700 farmers for 4,000 acres. A MoU is a written agreement to cooperate. Farmers can sell the trees to the forest department or KSDL after about 20 years, when the trees mature.

7.3 Was export ever allowed?

Only in small amounts. A public notice of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade gave a quota of 10 MT of sandalwood oil for export till 31 December 2007. MT means metric tonnes. It went only to manufacturer exporters.

Growth is slow because the tree takes about 20 years to mature. Even so, the law now rewards the farmer.

8.1 What do exams ask about sandalwood?

They test dates and names. Know 1792, 2001, 2008 and 2022 in order. Know that KSDL makes Mysore Sandal soap. Know that the 1918 launch followed the 1916 factory.

8.2 What is the main trap?

Mixing the two trees. Red Sanders is endemic to Andhra Pradesh and is in CITES Appendix II. Sandalwood is the Karnataka tree. Keep their laws and statuses apart.