White sandalwood (Santalum album) can be grown on private land in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and a few other states, and it suits dry, light-soil farms, but it needs a host plant, years of theft protection and legal paperwork before you can sell a single log. Expect a wait of 15 years at the very least, and about 30 years by older forestry references, before heartwood is worth harvesting.

The only detailed Indian cost-and-return model available is the ICFRE-Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST), Bangalore, package. It is a research model with dated prices, not a promise.

Where it grows in India

  • IWST says the tree occurs naturally in dry deciduous forests of the Deccan plateau over about 9,000 sq km, of which Karnataka and Tamil Nadu hold about 8,200 sq km. It also occurs in Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Manipur.
  • It is hardy, does not demand rich soil or a lot of moisture, and IWST rates it as suited to semi-arid rainfed zones and degraded land. It is classed as Vulnerable by IUCN.
  • It is a partial root parasite, so it will not grow properly without a host plant nearby.

Host plants, planting material and spacing

  • Seedling stage (primary host): IWST raises seedlings in 270 cc root trainers with a potting mix of sand, soil and compost (35:15:50) and a small host such as Mimosa pudica or redgram. Plantable seedlings are 30 to 50 cm tall, ready in about 6 months, at roughly Rs 6 to 7 each as a recurring nursery cost in IWST's 2011-era figures. Root-trainer seedlings developed better roots and links with the host than polybag seedlings.
  • Field stage (secondary host): the IWST agroforestry design is sandal at 6 m x 3 m with amla (Indian gooseberry) planted in between in a staggered (quincunx) pattern. Their trial plots also used mango, tamarind and coffee as hosts. A 2025 review in the Indian Journal of Agroforestry names Acacia, Casuarina and Eucalyptus as important hosts.
  • Plants per acre at 6 m x 3 m: 18 sq m per sandal tree gives about 225 sandal trees per acre (about 555 per hectare), worked out here.
  • In the first years, a low legume crop like horse gram or field bean can be grown between rows.
  • Use seedlings from a known source. IWST warns that poor seedlings of unknown origin planted without hosts spoil the heartwood and lose the farmer money.

Water, nutrition and care

No verified fertiliser or irrigation schedule for sandalwood from an Indian university was found, so none is stated. IWST describes the tree as undemanding in nutrients and moisture, with the host crop (amla, mango) getting its own normal care. Interculture such as weeding helps establishment. For fertiliser planning on the host crop, see fertilizers and drip irrigation. Pests and diseases are covered in the IWST material only as a nursery spray programme (a mancozeb and a quinalphos spray at monthly intervals); for the plantation follow your KVK or forest department advice and the label.

Years to harvest

  • IWST models a 15-year and a 20-year rotation, not a fixed heartwood age. Other forestry references (World Agroforestry species profile) say a tree reaches 15 cm diameter at breast height in about 30 years with about 50 kg of heartwood, and a well-grown 40-year tree can give over 250 kg. Heartwood content rises with age, so a 15-year harvest gets much less than a 30-year one.
  • Plan for at least 15 years, and likely longer, with no income from the sandal itself.

Cost and returns (IWST model, per hectare)

Model (15-year rotation)Benefit-cost ratio at 10 percentInternal rate of returnNet present value at 10 percent
Sandal block plantation4.433 percentRs 26.8 lakh
Sandal + amla3.829 percentRs 25.6 lakh
Sandal + amla + horse gram3.830 percentRs 25.7 lakh
  • For the sandal + amla + horse gram design over 15 years, IWST gives a total cost of about Rs 19.87 lakh per hectare and total benefits of Rs 143.08 lakh per hectare. About half of the cost is protection (watchmen, fencing).
  • Revenue assumed: about Rs 25,000 per tree in year 15 and Rs 31,400 per tree in year 20 (sapwood, heartwood and mixed wood together). Check: about 555 trees x Rs 25,000 is about Rs 1.39 crore per hectare, close to the stated benefits.
  • These figures assume most trees survive and are not stolen, and that heartwood sells near the prices IWST used (Rs 3,500 to Rs 5,000 per kg, about 2011). The Kerala press in September 2025 quoted current prices of Rs 4,000 to Rs 7,000 per kg. The IWST yield per tree at 15 years is much more optimistic than the 30-year forestry figure above, so apply your own haircut.
  • Do not trust "one lakh per tree" claims. Nobody should pay for a sandalwood plan without seeing the survival and heartwood data of a real plantation of the same age.

Legal limits and market

  • Karnataka: the Karnataka Forest (Amendment) Act, 2001 lets an occupant of land be legally entitled to sandal trees on his land, but he may not fell, sell, convert, store, transport or sell the wood except under the rules made under the Act. Check the current Karnataka rules for the exact permission and transit steps.
  • Kerala: in September 2025 the cabinet approved a bill to allow felling and sale of sandalwood on private land with Forest Department permission. Whether it has since passed is not confirmed.
  • Rules differ by state, and change; get written permission from your Divisional Forest Officer before planting commercially and before you cut anything.
  • Buyers: state forest department auctions, government units such as Karnataka Soaps and Detergents and Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation, and fragrance units such as FFDC Kanauj, which IWST lists among users of its technology. IWST quotes international sandal oil at over Rs 1,00,000 per kg, but that does not translate into farm-gate price.
  • Risks: theft is the largest, the long wait, legal change, and the bogus "investment plantation" companies. Compare any offer with the IWST model above.
💡 Tip: Before buying seedlings, visit the Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore (ICFRE) or your state forest department nursery, and ask for the written felling and transport rules for private-land sandal in your state.

IWST notes that the National Medicinal Plants Board, through state medicinal plant boards, has run schemes to promote sandal cultivation. No verified current rate was found; check your state board and subsidy finder.

Sources