India needs a National Timber Board on the lines of boards for tobacco, textiles, and leather in order to draft a cohesive national strategy for timber production, trade, and exports, Raja sekhar Tadepalli, Representative of All India Federation of Timber and Allied Industries, has said.
India’s imports have increased since 2010, thanks to a boom in residential housing construction. Teak is the preferred building timber in the country, which accounts for some 40 per cent of the teak wood processed. The rise in demand has been met largely by plantation teak from Africa and South America, he said.
On the demand side, he said India accounted for 97 per cent of global round wood imports and 26 per cent of global sawn timber imports in 2022, surpassed only by the Netherlands as the largest importer of teak sawn timber and followed by Singapore.
GST rationalisation could boost domestic timber and rural employment
Rajasekhar Tadepalli, who was in Kochi for the World Teak Conference, pointed out that India holds one-fifth (22 per cent) of the world’s teak resources. Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are the states with the largest area of native teak. Nilambur in Kerala is home to the world’s oldest teak plantation, established in 1841.
He also sought the government’s intervention in reducing GST rates on timber, saying that the 18 per cent rate is one of the highest in the construction sector. Other key materials like sand, bricks, and cement attract just lower GST. This tax disparity discourages builders and homeowners from choosing timber, pushing them towards cheaper but environmentally harmful alternatives like UPVC and WPC.
PPP plantations and NABARD support can make India self-reliant
If GST on timber is rationalised to 5 per cent, it will make timber affordable for construction and furniture, create a huge demand for locally grown wood, and encourage farmers to plant more trees. This single policy reform could trigger a ripple effect — boosting rural employment, reducing dependence on imports, saving foreign exchange, and aligning perfectly with the government’s sustainability and Atmanirbhar Bharat goals, he added.
There is also a need to incentivise large-scale plantations through public–private partnerships, with subsidised financing from NABARD. Many farmers are willing to plant teak and other timber species, but they need technical guidance and financial support.
India currently imports over 67 per cent of the world’s teak. States such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh have large tracts of land suitable for teak plantations. With proper policy support, India can meet its own demand within a few years and even start exporting premium-quality timber, he said.
