On the occasion of the World Bamboo Day, while addressing two separate Webinars organized by the Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) respectively, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Modi government plans to promote domestic Bamboo Industry, which is going to play a critical role in shaping the post-COVID economy of India.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that North-Eastern Region will be one of the favourite business destinations of India post COVID-19 and Bamboo is going to be the key pillar of the economic activities. He said that many Business Houses are looking at the North Eastern Region to exploit its vast agro-farming resources and we should not miss this opportunity.

Describing Bamboo as a silver lining in the dark clouds of pandemic, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it will help in shaping the economy of North East and the entire country in Post COVID era. He said it will also herald a new momentum for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call of Atmanirbhar Bharat by focussing on “Vocal for Local”.

The Minister said that the sensitivity with which the Modi government views the importance for the promotion of Bamboo is evident from the fact that it has amended the century old Indian Forest Act by taking homegrown bamboo out of the purview of the Forest Act, in order to enhance livelihood opportunities through bamboo. He also welcomed the decision of the Central Government to raise the import duty by 25 per cent on raw bamboo items. He said, this will help the domestic bamboo industries like furniture, handicrafts and Agarbatti making in a big way and promote the use of bamboo as a building material.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that time has come for National Bamboo Mission to take a big lead to make bamboo a common man’s utility item and unlock the huge potential in this sector in the North-Eastern region. He said the region could become the New Engine of New India with bamboo as a useful fuel.

The Minister also informed that viability funding from Ministry of DoNER for Start-ups have caught the imagination of youths in the N-E region and it is fast becoming an attractive option for the youth of the country.

Dr Jitendra Singh informed that three Bamboo Clusters will be developed in the Jammu region in the vicinity of Katra, Jammu and Samba towns for making of Bamboo basketry, Agarbatti and Bamboo Charcoal which will provide direct employment opportunities to about 25,000 people. Apart from this a Mega Bamboo Industrial Park near Jammu and Bamboo Technology Training Centre will also come up in the region within two years of the allotment of land by the UT of J&K administration.
He said, the Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre will take up technical collaboration and partnership with the Government of Jammu and Kashmir (UT) for setting up of common facility centres, cane and bamboo technology parks, cane and bamboo industrial parks, FPO, clusters & hi-tech nurseries on BOT (Built-Operate-Transfer), turnkey basis with their funding support as the case may be in due course.

Secretary, Ministry of DoNER, Dr.Inderjit Singh, Secretary NEC, Moses K Chalai, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Dr.Alka Bhargava and AbhijitBarooah, Co-Chairman CII North East Council MD, CBTC, Shailendra Chaudhari and other senior officials attended the meet through Video Conference.