The MSME Forum of Vidarbha Industries Association organized a seminar on “Industrial Opportunities in Bamboo Sector” recently.
The first speaker Dr Ram Narayan Pandey is an expert faculty of Bamboo cultivation and its supply chain management, Guwahati, discussed the various bamboo species and type of product that can be made from them. Further he added that whoever is looking to start an industry in the Bamboo Sector, should have innovative approach to monetize local bamboo on a large scale. Bamboo has vast opportunities for investors and Entrepreneur in terms of returns on investments, value addition and value chain etc. There is a need of monetising local variety of Bamboo with innovation. Product development with graded raw material, customised primary processed material & supply chain of standardised raw material can be established. Bamboo also offers young Entrepreneurs avenues to establish micro and small size units of Bamboo based products.
The second presentation was by Sanjay Singh, who is an expert faculty Bamboo and wood, Jaipur. According to him, Bamboo has a huge scope of commercialization. The need of the time in this sector is farm gate processing, supply chain management & industrial manufacturing. Based on the product, selection of raw material should be done understanding their various properties, availability and their utility. He further stated that in the current global scenario of Bamboo around 3.2% of forest cover, India has 30% of bamboo available. India contributes only 5% of the total global market. Major exporters are China. Thailand & Vietnam and importers are the US, Netherlands, Spain and India. There are around 442 trees per person in this world and 28 in India. Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra have high bamboo growth in forest areas. Bamboo has utility in various industrial sectors such as Agroforestry, Tiles Industry. Timber Industry, Food & Beverages, Utility & Consumables, Bio-energy, textile, chemical & machinery etc. According to Mr. Singh there are three types of major industry such as Anchor Industries, Secondary Industries and Allied industries which widely covers Bamboo based timber, mat ply, mat veneer ply, boards, machine crafts, furniture, incense sticks also adhesive, packaging and their maintenance workshops. State of Bamboo Industrialization is based on the right technology for the right products.
At the outset, Chairman of VIA MSME Forum, CA Girish Deodhar welcomed the speakers and highlighted that till 2017 Bamboo was considered as forest produce the reason why industries were not coming in this sector and India was importing bamboo material from China & Vietnam. At present bamboo has been classified as grass which has created scope for the MSMEs to produce various products which can become replacement of plastic products. He quoted Hon’ble Union Minister, Shri Nitin Gadkari, who once had shared with VIA that various Bamboo based material is being imported from China & Vietnam, so the Government has increased import duty in such material, so that local industries can be promoted.
Dr Suhas Buddhe, Vice President VIA in his welcome address mentioned about the efforts being taken since past few years to form a policy for districts like Chandrapur & Gadhchiroli so that some profitable opportunities can be created for the farmers of Vidarbha region in cultivation of Bamboo.
Dr Anita Rao, Jt. Secretary VIA introduced the guest speakers and elaborated the expertise both the speakers had on the subject.
Mr. Sunil Joshi, a Bamboo activist and an Architect appreciated the efforts made by VIA to promote Bamboo and proposed a formal vote of thanks.
Event was largely attended by VIA members, Entrepreneurs and Bamboo enthusiasts from all over the country.
