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THE READING ROOM / INDIA

A plant.
Different forms.
Different rules.

Read the national framework, then follow the rules for each state and system of medicine. Keep the source and its limits in view.

Sources checked 9 selected states · 31 source documents

01 / THE NATIONAL FRAMEWORK

Start with
the definitions.

01

Start with the part of the plant

National law

The NDPS Act treats resin, flowering tops, seeds and leaves differently.

Section 2(iii) includes charas: separated resin, including concentrated preparations and resin known as hashish oil or liquid hashish.

Ganja means the flowering or fruiting tops. Seeds and leaves are excluded from that definition only when they are not accompanied by the tops.

The definition also covers mixtures and drinks made from the controlled forms. Calling something natural, traditional, CBD-rich or low-THC does not by itself settle its legal status.

Section 2(iv) separately defines the cannabis plant. The seed-and-leaf exclusion does not authorise cultivation, and state excise laws can still regulate bhang.

Scope and limits

An exclusion from one NDPS definition is not a nationwide permission to trade or consume every preparation made from that material.

Read the source

02

Growing hemp still needs permission

Purpose-specific permission

Section 14 provides a route for industrial fibre, seed and horticultural purposes. It is an enabling power, not an open cultivation licence.

Government may allow cultivation through a general or special order for industrial purposes only of obtaining fibre or seed, or for horticultural purposes, subject to the order's conditions.

Medical and scientific activity sits within the NDPS framework, including applicable rules, orders and licences. Section 8 does not create unrestricted medical access.

There is no blanket national NDPS rule making every cannabis plant below 0.3% THC lawful to grow. A state cultivation condition or a food standard must be read in its own context.

Scope and limits

A licence for one purpose, site or activity should not be read as permission for extraction, retail, transport or another state's market.

Read the source

03

Hemp seed food has its own standard

FSSAI food standard

FSSAI permits compliant hemp seed, seed oil and seed flour as food. This is a food route, not a medicinal-cannabis approval.

Regulation 2.16 sets source, processing and composition conditions. Its 0.3% THC source-plant definition does not replace cultivation law.

Total THC limits are 5 mg/kg for seed and flour, 10 mg/kg for seed oil, 0.2 mg/kg for seed beverages and 5 mg/kg for other seed foods. Cannabinoids must occur naturally in or on the seed; CBD must not exceed 75 mg/kg.

Labels cannot make CBD nutrition or health claims, suggest a psychoactive effect, depict non-seed parts of the cannabis plant, or use the words cannabis or marijuana. The word hemp is permitted.

De-oiled flour has a specific naming requirement. These foods must not be intended for infants up to 24 months.

Scope and limits

Actual products still need the applicable food-business licence, compliant sourcing, testing, composition and labelling. The food standard is not evidence of a product's medical benefit.

Read the source

02 / STATE BY STATE

Read the rule.
Keep its scope.

Each entry names the source found and the limits of what it establishes. Status labels describe the evidence in that entry.

Showing all 9 state entries.

01

Himachal Pradesh

2026 licensing framework

Himachal has moved beyond the earlier pilot announcements. Its official portal now carries July 2026 cannabis rules and an industrial order, amended in August.

The 16 July 2026 NDPS amendment rules establish licensing provisions for medical and scientific cultivation, processing and manufacture. The medical-purpose definition excludes charas and ganja and links medicines to prescription and the applicable drug-manufacturing licence.

The 22 July 2026 NDPS Order creates an industrial route under section 14, including separate cultivator and manufacturer licence categories. Its industrial-purpose definition also excludes charas and ganja.

Amendments dated 20 August 2026 change parts of the seed-supply and administrative framework. The July texts must be read with these amendments.

Scope and limits

A notified framework is not proof that a particular licence has been issued, that applications are currently being accepted for every category, or that unrestricted cultivation or retail is permitted.

Read the source

02

Uttarakhand

Licensed industrial hemp

Uttarakhand has a documented industrial-hemp licensing route and an Excise Department Hemp Section.

The state's Industries Department documented licensed hemp cultivation and a below-0.3% THC condition in its October 2022 newsletter.

The current Excise Department website assigns industrial-hemp work to its Hemp Section. This supports the existence of a regulated route, not unrestricted growing.

The published examples concern industrial hemp. They should not be presented as a general permission for medical extraction, flowering tops or recreational cannabis.

Scope and limits

A current consolidated cultivation notification and every 2026 licence condition were not verified in this review. Confirm the exact crop, THC specification, permitted use and application conditions with state Excise before relying on older accounts.

Read the source

03

Madhya Pradesh

Regulated bhang supply

Madhya Pradesh documents a regulated bhang supply system, including an official statewide wholesale-supply tender for 2026–27.

The 2026–27 Excise Department tender is for supplying thok bhang in Madhya Pradesh. It is evidence of a regulated supply channel, not open sale.

The state's excise instruments distinguish licensed bhang shops, bhang ghota shops and bhang sweets. Permissions attach to the relevant activity and licence.

Announcements about hemp investment or medical potential are not a substitute for an enacted cultivation order and the required approvals.

Scope and limits

A currently operational general commercial hemp-cultivation scheme was not established from the official sources reviewed. Bhang supply permission must not be relabelled as ganja, resin or cannabis-extract permission.

Read the source

04

Rajasthan

Licensed bhang trade

Rajasthan's Excise Department describes a licensed bhang trade, with separate bhang groups allotted through competitive bidding.

The department's FAQ describes procurement and trade through the licence system. Its bhang guidance also describes licensed retail contractors obtaining supply through licensed wholesalers.

This is an excise-controlled bhang route. It does not create an open permission to cultivate cannabis or sell flowering tops, resin or extracts.

Scope and limits

The review did not verify a current general industrial-hemp cultivation notification. Older departmental bhang pages establish the licensing model but should not be used for current fees or possession limits.

Read the source

05

Uttar Pradesh

Licensed bhang retail

Uttar Pradesh continues to list bhang shops within its official 2026–27 excise allocation process.

Agra's official Excise Department page includes a bhang-shop category in the 2026–27 e-lottery material.

The state's notified retail rules govern licences for bhang shops. Licence conditions and the current excise policy matter for procurement and retail.

A bhang-shop licence is not a general medical-cannabis authorisation or permission to grow a crop.

Scope and limits

A broad current commercial hemp-cultivation route was not verified here. Reports about research cultivation, and the separate licensing of opium, must not be used as proof of general cannabis permission.

Read the source

06

Manipur

Notified policy; implementation unverified

Manipur notified a hemp policy in December 2020. The policy itself envisages further rules, licensing and implementation steps.

Official Gazette 292, dated 14 December 2020, publishes a policy for cultivation, harvesting, manufacturing and use of hemp for medicinal and scientific purposes, with industrial uses addressed in its framework.

The policy says the state's NDPS Rules would be amended and describes licensed, purpose-limited cultivation and procedures to be prescribed for production, transport and trade.

A notified policy is stronger evidence than a political announcement, but it is not proof of an operating licence for a particular grower or business.

Scope and limits

A complete authenticated current implementing-rule set, active application route and issued commercial licences were not verified. Do not describe Manipur as an unrestricted or fully operational cannabis market.

Read the source

07

Assam

Repeal verified; current permissions need checking

A widely repeated account of Assam is out of date: the old Ganja and Bhang Prohibition Act was repealed in 2022. That repeal did not repeal the national NDPS Act.

Assam's official legislative register lists the Ganja and Bhang Prohibition Act, 1958 (Assam Act XXI of 1959), as repealed by the Assam Repealing Act, 2022.

The Assam Excise Act, 2000 includes bhang and other cannabis forms within its intoxicating-drug definition. Sections 14, 16 and 17 address licensed manufacture or cultivation, possession controls and licensed sale.

The national NDPS controls remain relevant to the plant, flowering tops and resin. Repeal of an older state Act must not be read as recreational legalisation.

Scope and limits

This review did not verify a presently open hemp-cultivation programme, a current bhang retail allocation or every operative state restriction. The responsible Excise authority must confirm the specific activity and permission.

Read the source

08

Chhattisgarh

Licensed bhang system

Chhattisgarh has specific bhang rules and a 2026–27 notice for a statewide wholesale licence.

The 2021 rules distinguish wholesale bhang, retail bhang and bhang ghota, and bhang sweets through separate licence forms.

The rules also provide for import and transport permissions. A notice dated 10 March 2026 invites the statewide wholesale arrangement for the financial year beginning 1 April 2026.

These permissions concern regulated bhang. They do not establish unrestricted cannabis cultivation or cannabinoid-product sales.

Scope and limits

The notice proves a licensing process, not that a named business holds the licence or that every cannabis-derived product can be sold under it.

Read the source

09

Odisha

Bhang licences in 2026–29 policy

Odisha's 2026–29 excise policy expressly includes bhang shops and annual licence renewal provisions.

The policy states a term of 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, unless superseded, and reserves the government's power to amend it.

Part F, sections 6.1 and 6.2, sets bhang-shop application provisions and annual licence renewal conditions.

This is evidence of a regulated bhang category. It should not be expanded into permission for ganja, resin or unlicensed cultivation.

Scope and limits

An application or renewal provision is not assurance that a licence is available to any applicant. Current district conditions and subsequent notifications still matter.

Read the source

03 / MEDICINE & STANDARDS

Read each system
on its own terms.

01

Ayurveda: a recognised entry, regulated medicines

API and drug rules

Vijaya appears in the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. A pharmacopoeial entry sets a standard; it does not approve every cannabis product or health claim.

PCIM&H's official catalogue identifies Vijaya, Cannabis sativa Linn., in the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India, Part I, Volume I (1986).

Bhanga, except its seeds, is listed in Schedule E(1) of the Drugs Rules. An Ayurvedic, Siddha or Unani medicine containing a listed substance for internal use carries the prescribed medical-supervision caution under rule 161(2).

Manufacture and sale still require the applicable drug licences, standards and lawful raw-material sourcing. A state drug licence and NDPS or excise permissions address different parts of the chain.

Scope and limits

A traditional-use record or quality monograph is not clinical proof that a product treats a condition. It also does not make a seed oil or protein powder a cannabis medicine.

Read the source

02

Homoeopathy: standards are not an efficacy verdict

HPI entries verified

The Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of India includes cannabis entries. They belong to a regulated medicine system, not to a general cannabis exemption.

PCIM&H's official Volume I list contains Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. Its official Volume X list also includes Cannabis indica, identified botanically as Cannabis sativa L.

A pharmacopoeia addresses the identity and quality of a specified drug material or preparation. Inclusion is not evidence that a homoeopathic product has established clinical benefit for a claimed condition.

Applicable drug-manufacturing and sale rules, and the controls relevant to the actual source material, continue to matter.

Scope and limits

These entries do not authorise personal cultivation or unlicensed extraction, and should not be presented as modern clinical evidence for THC or CBD medicines.

Read the source

03

Which pharmacopoeia do we mean?

Three distinct standards systems

The Indian Pharmacopoeia, Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India and Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of India are distinct publications. Their titles should not be used interchangeably.

The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission publishes the Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP). The official IP 2026 page identifies it as the tenth edition.

IP describes standards for drug identity, purity and strength. API and HPI are the separate Ayurveda and homoeopathy standards documented by PCIM&H.

This review confirmed cannabis entries in API and HPI. It did not confirm a cannabis or cannabidiol monograph in IP 2026 from the public official materials reviewed.

Scope and limits

Do not turn an API or HPI entry into the claim 'cannabis is approved by the Indian Pharmacopoeia'. A quality standard, a marketing authorisation, a clinical finding and a lawful supply route are different things.

Read the source