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Polity & Governance

NDPS Act, 1985 and the Narcotics Control Bureau

India's main drug-control law and the agencies under it (NCB, Central Bureau of Narcotics); exams ask about the NCB's ministry, licit opium states and the Golden Triangle and Crescent.

Pareto Academy · updated 26 October 2026

At a glance

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 bans the production, sale, possession and use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances except for medical and scientific purposes under licence. Two central agencies matter most: the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which coordinates enforcement against trafficking, and the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), which licenses and supervises legal opium poppy farming.

Key facts

  • Law: NDPS Act, 1985 (replaced the Opium Acts and the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930)
  • Constitutional link: Article 47 (Directive Principle on prohibiting intoxicating drugs harmful to health)
  • NCB: set up 1986 under the NDPS Act; Ministry of Home Affairs; HQ New Delhi
  • NCB Director General: Anurag Garg (tenure extended to 31 July 2027)
  • CBN: HQ Gwalior; Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance; headed by the Narcotics Commissioner
  • Licit opium states: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh
  • Government opium factories: Neemuch (MP) and Ghazipur (UP)
  • Licensing: annual policy notified by the Finance Ministry for each crop year (from 1 October)
  • Money-laundering link: Enforcement Directorate under PMLA, 2002

How it works

  • Offences and penalties depend on quantity: small, intermediate (between small and commercial) and commercial quantities. Section 27 covers personal consumption. Repeat offenders with large quantities can face death under Section 31A.
  • NCB coordinates central and state enforcement, works with foreign agencies and runs joint operations. It is India's nodal drug-law enforcement agency.
  • CBN issues licences to farmers, measures their output, and buys all the opium gum at government-fixed prices. Farmers keep licences only if their crop meets a minimum morphine yield per hectare.
  • Poppy straw route: some licences are for "unlanced" poppy straw, from which alkaloids are extracted industrially.

Trafficking routes:

Region Countries Main drug
Golden Triangle Myanmar, Laos, Thailand Opium, heroin, methamphetamine
Golden Crescent Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan Opium, heroin

The North-East is exposed to the Golden Triangle via Myanmar; Punjab and Rajasthan to the Golden Crescent.

Recent developments

  • 26 Oct 2026: Home Minister Amit Shah announced the results of "Operation Trident", an NCB-led crackdown with the ED and Mizoram Police: 38 simultaneous raids on 23 October in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur, 18 arrests, 1,424 bank accounts frozen and about ₹100 crore of hawala transactions found.
  • 25 Oct 2026: The opium licensing policy for crop year 2026-27 was reported to raise the qualifying morphine yield for opium gum licences to 4.4 kg per hectare (from 4.2 kg); the unlanced poppy straw bar stays at 800 kg per hectare.

Exam traps

  • NCB is under the Home Ministry; CBN (Gwalior) is under the Finance Ministry (Department of Revenue).
  • NCB HQ is New Delhi; CBN HQ is Gwalior.
  • Licit opium is grown only in MP, Rajasthan and UP, not Punjab.
  • Golden Triangle = Myanmar–Laos–Thailand; Golden Crescent = Afghanistan–Iran–Pakistan.
  • The NDPS Act dates from 1985; the NCB from 1986.

Quick check

  • Q: Under which ministry does the NCB work? A: The Ministry of Home Affairs.
  • Q: Where is the Central Bureau of Narcotics headquartered? A: Gwalior.
  • Q: Which three states have licensed opium poppy cultivation? A: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Further reading

Sources

In the news

Every time this topic has appeared in our current affairs, newest first:

  1. 26 October 2026Operation Trident hits North-East drug and hawala network
  2. 25 October 2026Centre raises yield bar for opium poppy licences in 2026-27