Bamboo clusters inaugurated in Indian states to promote products
Source: Xinhua | 2020-09-09
India's Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday inaugurated 22 bamboo clusters in nine states in a bid to promote and export products made out of bamboo, said a statement issued by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The bamboo clusters are located in the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Karnataka.
The move would help raising nurseries and plantations and development of products like furniture, incense sticks, window blinds, chopsticks, toothbrushes, lifestyle products, jewelry, bottles, yoga-mat and charcoal.
In order to promote bamboo products, the government had launched the ambitious National Bamboo Mission (NBM) in October 2006, as part of the Ministry of Agriculture. A restructured format of the mission was launched in 2018 with an investment of 1,290 crore Indian rupees (around 172 million U.S. dollars) in the coming two years.
The restructured NBM is aimed at supporting the development of the entire value chain of the bamboo sector, starting from planting material, plantation, creation of facilities for collection, aggregation, processing marketing, micro, small and medium enterprises, skill development and brand building initiative in a cluster approach mode.
Speaking on the occasion, Tomar said the use of bamboo has been an ancient tradition in India, and that it is now being supported with modern technology. Youth are also being given training for the bamboo industry, he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always strived to protect the local industries and make progress so that local artisans get a source of livelihood.
Keeping in consideration the importance of bamboo, the Indian Forest Act 1927 was amended in 2017 to remove bamboo for the category of trees. As a result, now anyone can undertake cultivation and business in bamboo and its products, said an official statement.
Import policy has also been modified to ensure the progress of the bamboo industry in the country, the statement added.
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