A Bamboo Investment Summit will be organised on Tuesday by the State government, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Limited and the Indian Federation of Green Energy, with a view to creating awareness about opportunities for different business models in the sector.
The summit will be attended by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and stakeholders from the bamboo industry.
“The objective of the conference is to address the urgent need to create a business ecosystem for private investment enterprise development as well as to ensure long-term sustainability with regard to the viable supply of raw material to artisans, user communities and industrial users,” Sandeep Theng, executive member, National Bamboo Mission, said.
The Impact of The Indian Forest (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, which exempts bamboo from the definition of ‘tree’, thereby dispensing with permission for harvesting or obtaining a transit permit for its economic use, will also be discussed.
“Before the amendment, farmers needed permission from the Forest Department for selling and harvesting bamboo. Now it is a win-win situation for both farmers and industries. Once commercial cultivation starts, it will help provide ample raw material for industries.” Mr Theng said.
According to Rahul Patil, director of the State government’s Bamboo Research and Training Centre, the four main drivers of the bamboo industry are raw material, primary processing industry, secondary and tertiary processing industry and market availability.
“We are formulating a scheme called ‘Atal Bamboo Samridhi Yojana’, with the help of which raw material availability can be ensured so that socio-economic development with respect to farmers can be pushed. For the primary processing, we have set up common facility centres called bamboo handicraft and art units where treatment is done on bamboo,” Mr. Patil said.
Mr. Patil said the BSE can play a major role in attracting big investors to facilitate the secondary and tertiary industry. “We have created the Maharashtra Bamboo Development Board, which will create business opportunities for market players,” he said.
Describing the global scenario, Pritam Shinde, special officer, State Finance and Forest Ministry, said around 14% of China’s gross domestic product comes from the bamboo industry. Mr. Theng said, last year, bamboo worth around $154 million was imported.