India's most expensive spice sells for Rs 3 lakh per kg; reason behind rising prices of Kashmir’s ‘Red Gold’

One of the most crucial parts of the heritage and culture of Kashmir is saffron cultivation, which has been bringing steady growth to the economy of the union territory. However, saffron prices continue to rise, reaching a new high recently after a 64 percent price hike.

Kashmiri saffron (kesar) has now become the most expensive spice to be cultivated and sold in India, with the price of the spice being hiked by over 63 percent over the past year, ever since it had been given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

After years of decline in the saffron industry in Kashmir, mostly due to the unrest in the region and lack of proper distribution across the country, the red gold of the valley is now seeing an upward spike when it comes to price and revenue.

Ever since Kashmiri Kesar has been awarded the GI tag, the prices of the spice have skyrocketed. As of 2023, 10 gm of Kashmiri saffron sells for over Rs 3200, making the price of 1 kg over Rs 3 lakh, making it more expensive than silver in India.

Apart from the GI tag making saffron more expensive, another reason for the rise of the prices of the red gold of Kashmir is the extremely rigorous cultivation process. There are only 3-4 saffron strands in each of its purple flowers. Over 1.5 lakh flowers are required to produce just 1 kg of saffron.

It must be noted that the purple saffron flowers only bloom for six weeks in the entire year, and due to changing climate and unpredictable weather conditions, growing and cultivating saffron has become even more expensive.

Kashmiri saffron is the only saffron in the world that has been given a GI tag, making it the most exclusive spice in the world, imported by Canada, the United Kingdom, and parts of the Middle East.

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