Kerala to promote sandalwood cultivation on private land, says Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran

With the Cabinet approving the draft Kerala Forest Amendment Bill, 2025, amending the Kerala Forest Act, 1961, the farmers who cultivate sandalwood trees on private land can sell their produce through the registered depots under the Forest department. The price of the sold timber could be given to the farmers.

According to Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran, the draft Bill will promote sandalwood cultivation in the State by making the price of the sandalwood sold available to the farmer. The current market price for one kg of sandalwood is at least ₹4,000 to ₹7,000. The price will increase again depending on the quality of the sandalwood.

Currently, even if sandalwood is stolen from one’s own land, a case has to be filed against the landowner as per the law, dissuading the people from planting the sandalwood trees on their properties. According to the existing law, only dry sandalwood trees and dangerous ones are allowed to be cut. The draft Bill allows the cutting of trees on the land where one wants to build a house for one’s own use.

The bill does not allow the cutting of sandalwood trees reserved for government purposes on land allotted by the Revenue department, for which the land assignment rules have to be amended to provide title deeds. There is currently no provision for compounding forest offences that reach the court. The Bill, however, included a provision to compound some such crimes with the permission of the court.