Covid scare pushed up trade of aromatic and medicinal oils by 20%: Industry body

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The annual business of aromatic and medicinal oil has increased by around 20 per cent to reach the level of Rs 15,000 crore in the last two years, mainly on the back of rising demand across the world amid COVID-19 pandemic, an industry body said on Wednesday. "The demand for medicinal oil being produced in the country has increased world over after the pandemic scare. The total trade of aromatic and medicinal oils has reached to an annual level of Rs 15,000 crore and it is estimated that it will increase by 10-15 per cent every year," Essential Oils Association of India (EOAI) president Yogesh Dube told reporters here.

He said that besides America and Europe, the aromatic and medicinal oils are also in high demand in the UAE and Saudi Arabia– the two major exporters of the commodity. Dube also informed that Essential Oil Association's International Congress & Expo-2022 will be held in Indore from Thursday-Saturday, in which 1,000 delegates from India and abroad will take part.

The conference is being organised in Madhya Pradesh for the first time, he said, adding that with the availability of herbs in abundance in the state, their processing can give a fillip to the local economy. Shaktivinay Shukla, director of the central government's Kannoj-based Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC), said that world's 90 per cent mentha is produced in India and the country has the potential to produce even more.