Cannabis Laws in India: NDPS Act, Bhang, Hemp, CBD and Medical Cannabis Explained

Vikram Mitra

Sep 8

14 min read

Is Cannabis Legal in India?

The simplest answer is no, not for ordinary recreational possession and use of ganja or charas.

The accurate answer is considerably more interesting.

Indian law does not treat every part of the cannabis plant, every cannabis preparation or every use of the plant in exactly the same way.

A flowering top, a leaf, a seed, a bottle of hemp-seed oil, an Ayurvedic formulation and a field being cultivated for fibre can all begin with the same genus of plant and arrive at very different legal answers.

That is the first thing anyone entering India's cannabis industry needs to understand.

India does not really have one cannabis market governed by one rule.

It has a regulatory map.

At the centre of that map is the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985—the NDPS Act. Around it sit state excise laws, state cultivation rules, food regulations, Ayurvedic drug regulations, research permissions, customs requirements and other product-specific frameworks.

The commercial question, therefore, is rarely just: “Is cannabis legal in India?”

The better question is: What part of the plant are you dealing with, what are you doing with it, what will the finished product become, and in which state are you doing it?

That is where the real answer begins.

The NDPS Act: Where Modern Cannabis Law in India Begins

There is a historical temptation to describe 1985 as the year India simply “banned cannabis.”

That is too crude.

Long before the NDPS Act, India had already spent generations regulating cannabis through systems of excise, taxation, licensing and controlled trade. Bhang, ganja and charas were not always treated as interchangeable categories.

The important change in 1985 was the arrival of a new national narcotics framework.

The NDPS Act came into force in November 1985 and became the central legislation governing narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances across India.

And hidden inside its definitions is one of the most important distinctions in the entire Indian cannabis industry.

What does the NDPS Act mean by “cannabis”?

Under Section 2, “cannabis (hemp)” includes charas—the separated resin obtained from the cannabis plant and ganja, defined as the flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant.

But the definition of ganja expressly excludes seeds and leaves when they are not accompanied by the flowering or fruiting tops.

That small statutory distinction has enormous consequences.

It helps explain how India can simultaneously have strict criminal penalties for unlawful ganja and charas, traditional bhang markets operating under state regulation, hemp-seed foods sold through mainstream retail channels, Ayurvedic cannabis formulations and licensed cultivation projects for industrial or research purposes.

There is another distinction that matters just as much.

The Act separately defines a “cannabis plant” as any plant of the genus Cannabis.

So the legality of the material you eventually produce and the legality of cultivating the plant are not necessarily the same question.

You cannot simply say: “The seed is legal, therefore I can grow the plant to obtain it.”

Cultivation has its own regulatory pathway.

For entrepreneurs and investors, this is where many apparently simple cannabis business models begin to become regulatory projects.

Is Cannabis Legal for Personal Use in India?

For ordinary recreational use of ganja or charas, no.

Unlawful possession, purchase, sale, transport and other dealings involving cannabis can attract punishment under the NDPS Act.

Section 20 applies quantity-based penalties to specified cannabis offences, with substantially heavier punishment where commercial quantities are involved. Consumption itself is separately punishable under Section 27.

This distinction matters because “small quantity” does not mean “legal quantity.”

India does not have a general recreational possession allowance comparable to jurisdictions that permit adults to possess a specified amount of cannabis.

Nor does India currently have a nationwide licensed recreational dispensary system.

If a website or seller presents recreational cannabis flower, charas or hash as ordinarily legal for retail sale simply because the quantity is small, the underlying premise is wrong.

Bhang is the major exception people often have in mind—but even bhang is more complicated than the phrase “bhang is legal in India” suggests.

Is Bhang Legal in India?

Walk through parts of North India around Holi or Mahashivratri and the apparent contradiction is impossible to miss.

Cannabis is described as prohibited, yet licensed bhang shops may be operating openly.

There is a legal reason.

Traditional bhang is generally prepared from cannabis leaves. Because leaves are excluded from the NDPS Act's definition of ganja when they are not accompanied by flowering or fruiting tops, bhang does not fall within that definition in the same manner as ganja.

The Union government's submissions recorded by the Delhi High Court in 2026 similarly noted that bhang is not controlled under the NDPS Act and is instead controlled by respective state governments.

But this is where a crucial principle appears: Excluded from a particular NDPS definition does not mean unregulated.

States regulate bhang through their own excise and related laws. Licensing, manufacture, possession and sale can therefore vary from one state to another.

So even here, the legal answer depends on geography.

That is not an accidental curiosity in Indian cannabis law. It is a recurring pattern.

Is Industrial Hemp Legal in India?

Yes, but not because India created a completely separate botanical species called “hemp.”

Under the NDPS Act, a cannabis plant remains a cannabis plant.

The industrial pathway comes from Section 14, which allows government, subject to conditions, to permit cultivation of cannabis plants for the industrial purposes of obtaining fibre or seed, or for horticultural purposes.

This is the legal doorway through which state-level hemp cultivation frameworks can operate. Uttarakhand, for example, has used state powers to permit regulated industrial hemp cultivation, a fact also recorded in the Union government's submissions before the Delhi High Court.

But a recurring mistake is to take the concept of “industrial hemp” from another jurisdiction often the United States, Canada or Europe—and assume the same definition automatically applies in India.

It does not.

For an Indian hemp project, at least three different questions may have to be answered:

Can the crop legally be cultivated?
Can the harvested material legally be processed?
Can the finished product legally be sold in the category in which you intend to market it?

Those are separate questions.

A cultivation licence is not automatically a food licence.

A lawful seed is not automatically a lawful cannabinoid extract.

And a low-THC crop does not create a universal exemption from every other Indian regulatory requirement.

For businesses specifically evaluating hemp cultivation, food, sourcing or processing, see our companion guide: Is Hemp Legal in India? A Complete Guide for Businesses.

Hemp Food in India: The FSSAI Rules Businesses Often Misunderstand

This is an area where a surprising amount of incorrect information continues to circulate, you will frequently see the claim that: “Hemp food is legal in India as long as it contains less than 0.3% THC.”

That is not an accurate description of the final Indian food standard.

In November 2021, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India introduced specific standards for hemp seeds and hemp-seed products. The regulations permit qualifying hemp seed, hemp-seed oil and hemp-seed flour as food or food ingredients, subject to detailed compositional and cannabinoid limits.

Product/category	Maximum total THC under FSSAI standard
Hemp seed	5 mg/kg
Hemp-seed oil	10 mg/kg
Hemp-seed flour	5 mg/kg
Beverages made from hemp seeds	0.2 mg/kg
Other foods consisting of hemp seed or seed products	5 mg/kg

FSSAI also caps CBD in foods consisting of hemp seed or hemp-seed products at 75 mg/kg and requires cannabinoids in these foods to be naturally present in or on the seeds.

That last sentence is especially important.

The hemp-food regulations are not a back door for turning a bottle of cannabinoid extract into an FSSAI-authorised food.

The rules also restrict how these products can be presented. Among other things, qualifying hemp foods cannot be marketed as having a psychoactive effect, and the standard places specific restrictions on cannabis/CBD-related claims and imagery on labels.

For a consumer, this is a labelling issue. For a brand, it is a product-development, compliance and packaging issue before the first label is ever printed.

Is CBD Legal in India?

The phrase “CBD is legal in India” is too broad to be useful.

So is the opposite statement that all CBD is automatically illegal.

The regulatory position depends heavily on what the material actually is, where it came from, how it was extracted, what the finished product is, what claims are made for it and under which licensing framework it is being manufactured and sold.

CBD does not operate in India as a simple standalone retail category with one universal “CBD licence.”

That is the first misconception to remove.

Hemp-seed food is not the same thing as CBD extract

FSSAI's hemp-food standard applies to hemp seeds and specified seed products.

It permits only naturally occurring cannabinoids associated with those seeds and imposes the limits described above. It does not create a general permission for adding extracted CBD to foods and calling the result an FSSAI-compliant hemp product.

Ayurvedic cannabis formulations operate under a different framework

Cannabis also appears within India's traditional-medicine regulatory system.

Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, Bhanga (Cannabis sativa) is listed in Schedule E(1) among substances used within the Ayurvedic system that are subject to specific controls.

The Ministry of Ayush has also increased scrutiny of ASU formulations containing bhang. Its 2024–25 annual report records an inter-ministerial committee addressing illegal sale and notes that state and Union Territory licensing authorities were directed to send new applications and existing licences involving Bhang (Cannabis sativa) for Ministry review or clearance.

So when evaluating a product sold as “CBD oil,” the meaningful question is not simply whether the letters C-B-D appear on the label.

The questions are:

Where did the cannabinoids originate?
Which plant material was used?
What extraction was performed?
Is the finished product a food, cosmetic, Ayurvedic medicine or another regulated product?
What therapeutic or wellness claims are being made?
Which licences support those claims and that route to market?

For a cannabis or wellness company, those questions should be answered before formulation, packaging and customer acquisition begin.

Changing the label after the regulatory pathway was chosen incorrectly is the expensive way to discover this distinction.

Is Medical Cannabis Legal in India?

Yes, within regulated medical and scientific pathways.

That is very different from saying India has a nationwide medical-marijuana programme.

Section 8 of the NDPS Act creates exceptions for medical and scientific purposes where activities are conducted in the manner permitted by the Act, rules, licences and authorisations. The legislation also contains the concept of “medicinal cannabis,” defined as extracts or tinctures of cannabis (hemp).

In practice, India's medical-cannabis landscape includes traditional-medicine formulations, authorised research and state-specific cultivation or manufacturing frameworks.

What India does not presently have is one nationwide system in which any patient with a qualifying condition can visit a cannabis dispensary and purchase flower under a national medical-cannabis card.

That comparison matters because international companies frequently arrive in India carrying assumptions built in Canada, Germany, the United States or other regulated markets.

India's architecture is its own. And in 2026, one state has become particularly important to watch.

Himachal Pradesh's 2026 Cannabis Rules: What Actually Changed?

For decades, conversations about Himachal Pradesh and cannabis tended to begin with the plant's presence in the landscape.

In 2026, the conversation moved into formal regulation.

In June, the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet approved amendments to the Himachal Pradesh NDPS Rules, 1989 to establish a regulated pathway involving cannabis for medical and scientific purposes.

The story did not stop at Cabinet approval.

By July 2026, the state had notified amended rules, creating a framework for controlled cultivation and associated activities for medicinal and scientific purposes. Reporting on the notified rules describes requirements around cultivation, storage, transportation, processing and manufacture, with traceability and licensing controls built into the system.

That difference, between a government announcing an intention and rules actually being notified, is commercially significant.

For investors and operators, this is what regulated market formation in India often looks like: not a dramatic nationwide declaration that “cannabis is now legal,” but a state opening a defined pathway for specific uses, under specific conditions, with licences, documentation and controls around the movement of material.

Anyone studying India's future cannabis industry should pay attention to that pattern.

Is India About to Change Its Cannabis Law?

This question became considerably more important in January 2026.

In Great Legalisation Movement India Trust v. Union of India, the Delhi High Court considered a challenge involving multiple provisions of the NDPS Act and Rules.

The Court did not legalise cannabis. It did not decriminalise recreational possession. And it did not strike down the challenged NDPS provisions.

Instead, on 23 January 2026, the Court directed the Union government to undertake a stakeholder consultation and review examining whether cannabis-related provisions of the NDPS Act and Rules require dilution and, if so, for what purposes.

The Director of the Narcotics Control Bureau was designated as nodal officer, with stakeholders to include relevant ministries, doctors, cancer and palliative-care specialists, researchers and other organisations.

Most importantly, the Court directed that a decision be taken within six months.

That six-month period expired in July 2026.

As of this September 2026 update, no amendment to the NDPS Act establishing general cannabis legalisation or decriminalisation has been publicly notified.

The Court's order itself allows the petitioner to revive the petition if a decision is not taken.

That is the correct status to work from. India is having a formal cannabis-policy conversation. That is significant.

It is not the same thing as cannabis already having been legalised.

For investors, pharmaceutical companies and international cannabis groups, planning around headlines rather than the operative law is a very expensive form of optimism.

Is There a “New Cannabis Law” in India in 2026?

Not at the national level in the sense that many search results imply.

There is no new central statute replacing the NDPS Act and creating a general legal cannabis market.

What has happened is more fragmented and, commercially, more interesting:

the Delhi High Court forced a formal policy review into the open; Himachal Pradesh moved from policy discussion into notified rules for controlled medical and scientific cultivation; FSSAI's hemp-food regime remains active; state-level industrial hemp frameworks continue to matter; and Ayush authorities have been paying closer attention to cannabis-containing traditional formulations.

The mistake is looking for one moment when a switch flips from “illegal” to “legal.”

India is moving through categories.

Businesses need to do the same.

Are There Legal Cannabis and Hemp Products in India?

Yes. But the presence of the words cannabis, hemp, CBD, Vijaya or bhang on a product does not by itself tell you whether the product is compliant.

A legitimate commercial pathway may involve FSSAI-compliant hemp-seed foods, appropriately licensed Ayurvedic formulations, state-authorised bhang businesses, or licensed cultivation and processing undertaken within applicable industrial, medical, scientific or horticultural frameworks.

The licence and product classification matter more than the marketing language.

Before Delta evaluates a cannabis or hemp business model, we usually want to understand five things:

Source: What plant material or ingredient is entering the supply chain, and where does it come from?
Process: What happens to it—cultivation, extraction, formulation, manufacturing, import or simple packaging?
Product: What is actually being sold at the end: food, ingredient, cosmetic, traditional medicine, pharmaceutical product, fibre, seed or another category?
Claims: What is the company promising on its website, label, advertising and sales material?
Jurisdiction: Which central and state authorities govern the activity?

Until those five points are mapped, asking whether the business is “a legal hemp company” does not tell us very much.

Who Regulates Cannabis and Hemp in India?

There is no single Indian “Cannabis Authority.”

Depending on the project, a company can encounter the NDPS framework and narcotics enforcement authorities, state governments and excise departments, FSSAI, Ayush and state drug-licensing authorities, customs authorities, agricultural departments and other sector-specific regulators.

This is why a narcotics-law opinion alone may not answer whether a hemp protein can be sold, whether an Ayurvedic formulation can make a particular claim, whether a cannabinoid ingredient can be imported, or whether cannabis can be cultivated in a particular state for a particular end use.

The plant may be the same.

The regulatory pathway is not.

Can You Import Cannabis or CBD Products Into India?

There is no reliable rule that says: “If it is legal in the exporting country, it can be imported into India.”

The legality of a product in California, Colorado, British Columbia, Switzerland or another cannabis market does not automatically determine its status at an Indian port.

Import analysis may involve the nature and source of the material, NDPS restrictions, customs classification, drug or food regulation, licensing requirements and the intended use of the imported product.

For international brands, this is one of the areas where establishing the regulatory pathway before shipping inventory matters considerably more than arguing about the product description after it reaches customs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is weed legal in India?

No, not for ordinary recreational possession and consumption of ganja or charas. The NDPS Act regulates and prohibits unauthorised cannabis-related activities, with penalties depending on the offence and, for certain offences, quantity. Bhang occupies a different position because leaves are excluded from the statutory definition of ganja when not accompanied by flowering or fruiting tops.

Is bhang legal in India?

Bhang is not controlled as ganja under the NDPS Act when it is made from leaves falling within the statutory exclusion, but states regulate bhang through their own excise and related laws. Its legal sale therefore depends on the applicable state regime.

Is hemp legal in India?

Industrial cultivation can be permitted for fibre or seed, or for horticultural purposes, under Section 14 of the NDPS Act, subject to applicable government and state rules. Finished hemp products are separately regulated according to what those products are.

Is CBD oil legal in India?

There is no useful universal yes-or-no answer. The source of the cannabinoid, plant material, extraction method, finished-product category, claims and licensing route all matter. FSSAI's hemp-seed rules do not create a general authorisation for extracted CBD to be added to food.

Is medical cannabis legal in India?

Medical and scientific uses can operate through regulated pathways. India also has licensed traditional-medicine formulations involving cannabis. However, India does not currently operate a nationwide medical-cannabis dispensary system comparable to several foreign jurisdictions.

Did India legalise cannabis in 2026?

No. The Delhi High Court directed the Union government to review cannabis-related provisions and conduct stakeholder consultation, but it did not legalise or decriminalise cannabis. Himachal Pradesh separately introduced a regulated state framework for controlled medical and scientific cannabis activities.

What changed in Himachal Pradesh in 2026?

Himachal Pradesh moved from policy proposals into notified rules governing controlled cannabis cultivation and related activities for medicinal and scientific purposes. This is a state-specific regulated framework, not nationwide recreational legalisation.

Does the 0.3% THC rule make hemp food legal in India?

Not in the simplistic way this is often presented. FSSAI specifies product-specific THC limits for hemp-seed foods, including 5 mg/kg for hemp seed, 10 mg/kg for hemp-seed oil and 5 mg/kg for hemp-seed flour, with different limits for beverages and restrictions on cannabinoids and labelling.

Can I start a cannabis business in India?

Possibly—but “cannabis business” is not a regulatory category. A hemp-food company, Ayurvedic formulation company, industrial-fibre processor, research project and medical-cannabis cultivator can each require very different permissions and supply chains.

Will India legalise recreational cannabis?

No national recreational legalisation has been enacted as of September 2026. Policy review is taking place, but businesses should make decisions based on operative law, not an assumed future outcome.

The Practical Takeaway for Businesses and Investors

There is a reason two cannabis products sitting beside each other in a presentation can have completely different regulatory prospects in India.

One may begin with seed.

Another with leaf.

Another with flowering material.

One may become food.

Another an Ayurvedic formulation.

Another an extract.

Another an industrial fibre.

And somewhere between the field and the finished bottle, entirely different laws begin to attach themselves to each one.

That is why the first serious question in an Indian cannabis project should not be: “Can we sell cannabis in India?”

It should be: “What exactly are we proposing to cultivate, source, manufacture, import or sell and which legal pathway governs every step between origin and consumer?”

Once that map is clear, formulation, sourcing, manufacturing, packaging and market entry become commercial problems that can actually be solved.

Without it, capital starts moving before the business model has a legal foundation.

Considering a Cannabis, Hemp or Cannabinoid Project in India?

Delta Botanicals & Research has spent more than 15 years working across India's cannabis and hemp ecosystem—from genetics, traditional cannabis knowledge and research to sourcing, formulation, regulatory strategy and commercial market development.

We work with founders, wellness and Ayurvedic companies, pharmaceutical businesses, investors and international cannabis groups that need to understand where an opportunity actually sits inside the Indian market before committing capital to it.

Our advisory work can begin at the earliest stage: mapping the product and regulatory pathway, evaluating sourcing and genetics, identifying formulation and manufacturing options, assessing white-label routes, and building the commercial chain through packaging and market entry.

If you are evaluating an Indian cannabis or hemp project, come to us with the idea before you come with the finished product.

Talk to Delta's Advisory Team - info@deltabotanicals.in

Delta Botanicals and Research