Saussurea costus (Falc.) Lipsch is an important medicinal plant that belongs to Asteraceae family and grows between 2600 and 4000 masl in nature. Due to the occurrence of numerous secondary constituents like sugars, terpenoids, alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, tannins, and others, it has anti-ulcer, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, and other similar characteristics. The species is utilized for curing various ailments like typhoid, fever, stomach disorders, coughs and colds, ulcers, asthma, and ulcers, among others. The roots of the species are utilized in a variety of Ayurvedic formulations including herbal drugs and cosmetics. Sesquiterpenoid lactones like dehydrocostuslactone, costunolide, germacrene, lappadilactone, and cynaropicrin are few of the major phytoconstituents reported from this species. These bioactive chemicals can be extracted from this plant to discover novel and potential medicines. To increase the production of such beneficial active constituents from S. costus, various in vitro culture techniques, elicitation, and other advanced molecular biology techniques like Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) might be used. Although there are many academic studies present on S. costus, an updated and comprehensive insight is required to characterize the properties of secondary metabolites and ways to boost the production of these bioactive metabolites from S. costus. Therefore, this study attempts to evaluate the ecological and biological roles of the main active compounds of S. costus. Similarly, it will also enlighten various existing biotechnological approaches that are being applied to enhance secondary constituent’s production in medicinal plants.