A seminar on “Industrial Opportunities in Bamboo Sector†was organized by MSME Forum of VIA on 29th September 2021 on Virtual platform.
The Seminar started with the welcome note towards all the dignitaries & participants by the Chairman of MSME Forum VIA, CA Girish Deodhar who explained about the concept and idea of the programme. Further he added VIA is passionately working for the economic growth of Vidarbha region. The MSME Ministry has changed the definition of MSME which has increased the size of industries in terms of capital investments and turnovers. Upto 2017 bamboo was considered as forest produce that’s why industries were not coming in this sector and India was importing bamboo material from China & Vietnam. Now bamboo has been classified as grass which has created scope for the MSMEs to produce various products which can become replacement of plastic products. Hon’ble Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkariji, had also said in his previous speeches that various bamboo based material is being imported from China & Vietnam so the Ministry has increased import duty in such material so local industries can be promoted.
Dr. Suhas Buddhe, Vice President VIA – appreciated this initiative of MSME forum. He said this program is very specific for Bambooprenuers who are interested in growing and value addition of Bamboo. We should also explore the possibilities of value addition of local varieties. Many people have misunderstood that specific type of bamboo to be grown for industrial activities. Past few years we have been trying to form a policy for districts like Chandrapur & Gadhchiroli and with the help of political will some profitable opportunities can be created for the farmers of Vidarbha region. Further Ms. Anita Rao – Jt. Secretary VIA introduced the guest speakers to share their knowledge about the subject.
Addressing the audience, Dr. Ram Narayan Pandey 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 he should have innovative approach to monetise local bamboo on a scale. Bamboo can offer opportunities to investors, entrepreneur and bambooprenuers 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, product development with customised primary processed material & Supply chain of standardised raw material can be established. Bamboo also offers young entrepreneurs to establish micro and small size units for bamboo based products.
Sanjay Singh – an expert faculty about bamboo and wood shared that 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. 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. There are three types of major industry such as Anchor Industry, Secondary Industry and allied industry 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. Buying suitable machinery for the processing of bamboo. Available resource and its supply chain management. Acting timely over such opportunities etc.
Sunil Joshi, a bamboo activist and an architect helped in organizing this event and proposed a vote of thanks. He said that I thank VIA for organizing this program, VIA being a very vibrant association, this time they have identified this sector. There are many people interested in the bamboo industry. We have been dreaming of industrializing bamboo for many years but now dreams are converting into reality. Bamboo is a grass known from ages and it has immense possibilities of value addition. I congratulate team VIA for organizing such a wonderful program.
Mr. Ashit Sinha, Mr. Madhav Labhe, Mr. Utkarsh Khopkar along with participants from across the country were present. Event was largely attended.