Andhra Pradesh government is going to set up a permanent Cell in association with Indian Embassy in Beijing to directly coordinate with buyers of Red Sanders from the state. This would eliminate the hassles such as customs clearance and other clearances which have become deterrents for the prospective buyers from China. The state wants to earn a revenue of Rs 1000 crore every year from the sales of Red Sanders by tapping the market in China, Japan and Korea. The Government is sending a team of two senior officials AK Parida, special chief secretary, environment and Forest, and Science& Technology, and SBL Mishra, principal chief conservator of Forests to China to explore the market and to remove the bottlenecks in the sale of red Sanders.
Talking to ‘telugu360.com‘ Parida said state was planning to sell about 6000 MT of Red Sanders in the first of half of 2016. ” We are hopeful of disposing about 3000 MT in the first week of January and another 3000 MT in last week of March 2016. This will fetch about Rs 2000 crore to the state. Our plan is to get a sustainable revenue of Rs 1000 crore every year,” the special chief secretary said. Talking about the international market, he said China, Japan and Korea together had a market of 4000 MTs. According to Parida, the proposed Cell in Indian Embassy, Beijing would be dealing directly with the buyers and the trade would be online.
Once the payment was made, he said, the logs of Red Sanders would be shipped to China from Krishnapatnam port. ” The forest department is constructing a godown near Renigunta in an extent of 100 ac. The Red Sanders will be harvested and cut into required sizes and shipped to Krishnapatnam port, ” he said. His two-member team would be visiting Beijing, Guangzhou and Hongkong from 10th to 17th December, 2015 to participate in the road shows in connection with proposed Phase – IV auction of Red Sanders Wood.Revealing that in 2015 state earnings had crossed Rs 1000 crore, Parida said the department was aiming to earn Rs 2000 crore in the Phase-IV auctions of the Red Sanders.
