GREEN-LIT India's CBD Wellness Spike

It's wellness—but you need a prescription. It’s healing—but the bottle costs more than your therapist. It's herbal—but looks right at home next to your retinol serum. CBD in India is still figuring itself out: part doctor's note, part lifestyle flex. For some, it began as a last resort and became a business idea. And for a couple of us, it sparked a reckoning that either deepened a belief in the substance—or ended it for good. Either way, one thing's clear: we're only just getting started.

- By Sharan Sanil

The CBD boom in India is no longer just about basic wellness needs—it’s a high-end lifestyle choice for a new generation of health-conscious urbanites who want their calm curated, chic and bottled.

Historically, cannabis in India was openly celebrated as bhang during festivals yet simultaneously demonised under colonial-era laws. “Cannabis leaves were always a part of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and excluded from the NDPS Act as a nonnarcotic—we were just not aware of its potential,” explained Varun Rungta, founder-CEO of Mumbai-based pharmaceutical research firm Oreka. While the flower and resin remain outlawed for their high psychoactive THC content, leaves and seeds are permitted for medicinal use, opening the door for CBD or cannabidiol; a compound with purported therapeutic value. Unlike its infamous cousin THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), CBD doesn’t get users high—instead, it interacts with the body's endocannabinoid system to potentially ease inflammation, anxiety, and chronic pain.

The result? A fragmented but fast-growing ecosystem where legality is interpreted through Ayurvedic classification and education comes from startups rather than state bodies; thought public interest has certainly evolved. Since the pandemic era, demand has grown multifold, and a new generation of players has stepped in to meet it.

THE PRESCRIPTION PROBLEM

Richa Jaggi came into this world not via startup spreadsheets, but grief. Her dog, Champ, was dying of an aggressive cancer that left the poor pup in agony for months on end. “I illegally smuggled products from Amsterdam. At least that's what I thought I have to do. I was willing to go to jail for my dog,” the advertising executive-turned-entrepreneur tells me. That act of desperation led to the birth of Awshad, which now touts itself as a cash-flowpositive wellness brand rooted in medical accountability.