AP makes red sanders sale attractive to foreign buyers

State agencies to take charge of delivering up to loading point, to every successful idder, will also take all permissions on their behalf

The Andhra Pradesh government has introduced multiple safeguards in favour of the prospective buyers of red sanders wood while revising the auction schedule aimed at enhancing the foreign participation to get maximum returns.

As many as 140 overseas buyers, including 109 people from China, besides 275 Indian visitors had so far made a physical inspection of the red sanders lots located at various depots of the forest department in the state, according to forest department authorities.

“The response from overseas buyers exceeded all our expectations. During the 2008 sale, there were only handful of foreign buyers,” said PK Jha, additional principal chief conservator of forests, on Saturday while explaining the last minute changes related to the sale process of 4,160 tonnes of the wood in log form.

According to Jha, the government has decided to conduct the e-tendering-cum-e-auction process from October 10-17, instead of September 19-26 as the Chinese embassy had requested for a 15-day window at the end the road shows for the participation of Chinese nationals.

The government agencies will now take the full responsibility of delivering the red sanders consignment up to the loading point from any port along with police security to every successful bidder and will take all the statutory permissions on their behalf. The government will pay six per cent interest on the money paid towards the purchase of red sanders in case the sale process is not completed in three months.

The names of the bidders will only remain with MSTC Limited, which will conduct the sale process, while the state government will approve the successful bids within a week on receipt of the information from the central government’s trading agency. These safeguards were introduced to address some of the apprehensions expressed by the overseas buyers during their interactions with the government authorities, according to AV Joseph, chief principal conservator of forests.

The state forest officials are leaving for China on Monday to conduct road shows at Xian You and Beijing and then to Tokyo in Japan before returning to India. China is the biggest importer of red sanders. The authorities are expecting to get a price in the range of Rs 20-40 lakh per tonne depending on the grade.

The international agencies had given one time exemption to India for sale of this protected plant species, which is being used for medicinal and other purposes in China and other countries. Of this, AP was given a quota of over 8,000 tonne. The Director General Foreign Trade (DGFT) has allowed the state government to sell half of this quantity in the first phase.