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The Andhra Pradesh government has made elaborate arrangements to sell 4,159 tonnes of seized red sanders wood in the international market through e-auction and e-tendering from September 19-26. A notification to this effect was issued on Friday.
A slew of road shows had also been planned in China, Japan and Singapore while e-mails were being sent out to traders and trade bodies known to be involved in purchase of this expensive wood in these and other countries, the forest department officials said.
The wood, known for its aroma, enjoys a price of anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 30 lakh depending on its grade. The growing demand for red sanders in the international market is indicative by a spurt in smuggling cases where people had been caught carrying even in small quantities using hand bags, according to some recent reports.
The news of smuggling in AP hit national headlines earlier this year when two of the state’s forest officers were lynched to death by smugglers in areas bordering Tamil Nadu. About 10 persons hailing from Tamil Nadu were killed by armed AP forest guards in an alleged encounter followed thereafter.
The Chandrababu Naidu government had said it would use the sale proceeds of red sanders as one of the sources to fund the Rs 43,000-crore farm loan waiver programme. The government is expecting to get Rs 2,000 crore from their sale.
In October 2013, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wold Fauna and Flora had given a one-time relaxation permitting India to export 11,806 tonnes of seized and confiscated red sanders in the log form. A quota of 8,584 tonnes of the total permitted quantity was given to AP and the sale of the remaining quantity was permitted to Central agencies, which confiscated the wood in other parts of the country.
State principal chief conservator of forests AV Joseph said only half of the permitted quota is being auctioned in the first phase as allowed by the Director General of Foreign Trade since the sale of large quantities would potentially bring down the price.
Central government’s MSTC Limited has been entrusted with the job of conducting e-tendering and e-auctioning simultaneously, according to him. The government has fixed a starting price in the range of Rs 7 lakh to Rs 12 lakh per tonne depending on the grades but the upset price or the base price will be announced just a day or two ahead of auctioning, Joseph said. IN 1997, red sanders was declared as endangered species and is endemic to forests in AP.
