Bamboo & Bamboo Handicrafts/ other Products
- Endowed with rich and diverse resources of bamboo with traditional usage Tripura is home to 21 species of bamboo out of 130 species available in India.
- Cane & Bamboo Handicrafts of Tripura – among the best in the country.
- 60% of the requirement of the entire country for bamboo sticks for Agarbatti-making is met from the State.
- Tripura Bamboo Mission(TBM) has been launched in 2007, under PPP framework, for integrated development of Bamboo Sector.
Tripura Cane and Bamboo handicrafts are considered to be among the best in the country for their exquisite designs, wide range of products and artistic appeal. This industry has a great export potential as well. Not only that, industrial products like bamboo tiles, laminated products, ply boards, corrugated sheets, etc., can be produced and used as building materials for furniture manufacture etc. Studies have shown that Bamboo is a very effective substitute for timber and is, in fact, better in many respects.
Tripura Bamboo Mission (TBM):
The State Govt. has launched Tripura Bamboo Mission in PPP mode, for integrated development of Bamboo sector in Tripura. The implementation of the Project started in August 2007. The Mission is focused on development of 4 sub-sectors, namely, Bamboo Plantations, Bamboo Handicrafts, Bamboo Incense Sticks and Bamboo Industrial Applications. The catalytic role played by TBM has resulted in increased turnover as well as livelihood generation. Value addition is taking place in Agarbatti sector, new handicraft products have been designed and launched, marketing of products has been organized.
- Capacity Building: Artisans have been trained by TBM on various aspects of bamboo plantation to production to marketing.
- Technology Induction: The Project has introduced technologies in bamboo treatment, dyeing, use of Japanese Juki machines/ Taiwanese stick-making machines/ Power tools/ Semi-mechanized/ mechanized Agarbatti Rolling/ Finishing machines/ semi-mechanized tools for bamboo stick-making, etc. Induction of improved techniques & tools has greatly helped the producers to enhance their product quality & productivity.
- Common Facility Centers (CFCs): Cluster CFCs have been set up in state under various interventions by TBM.
- Private Investment: With establishment of Bamboo Park, many investors are showing keen interest to set up bamboo based units in the state. Investors from outside as well as from within the state are also setting up high technology intensive bamboo industrial units. The Mutha Industries Ltd has commenced commercial production and marketing the bamboo tile and other products outside the country. Many small bamboo based units have also taken the shed on rent at the Bamboo park developed by TIDC.
- Trade facilitation and Market Linkage: TBM Trade Facilitation Cell is working to establish market linkages. The cell is supporting the grassroot producers through central supply chain management between buyers & producers. Major steps taken by TBM Trade Facilitation for improvement of marketing of bamboo product are- a) Marketing Tie up with NEHHDC, THHDC, ITC, NRRS, Mother Earth, Giskaa and many other private players, b) B2C marketing through eBay.in, flipkart, snapdeal, realshoppee.com etc. c) B2B marketing through Indiamart.com, Tradeindia.com, Indiatradezone.com.
- Agarbatti Sector: TBM has made very significant impact in ‘agarbatti sticks’ sector. TBM has been promoting ‘polishing of agarbatti sticks’ and ‘rolling of agarbatti sticks’, which increases the value of the product manifold, on a massive scale. TBM has introduced Mechanization in Incense sector by adopting the globally acceptable technology. TBM’s interventions have resulted in extensive level value addition of bamboo stick to Raw & Perfumed Agarbatti. Tripura is gradually transforming itself from manual stick producer to mechanized stick producer reciprocating to the change in global business regime and market demand. Similarly the demand for round bamboo stick has forced TBM to promote bamboo round stick units across the state with active support of the various state govt and central govt schemes like Swabalaban, PMEGP etc.
- Bamboo plantation: Resource is the backbone of the bamboo based activities of the state. Under the TBM resource generation program, the focus has been to address the resource requirement of the various bamboo value addition clusters. While Bamboo Plantation in the state is being undertaken by the Forest department in forest areas, TBM is implementing Bamboo Plantation in private lands, mostly RoFR lands through cluster development approach. TBM plantations are being recognized in the state due to the fact that, it has adopted High Density Bamboo Plantation (HDBP) technology for the first time. Besides its limited scope, TBM is organizing the bamboo growers & farmers engaged in commercial bamboo plantation & nursery into Bamboo Producers’ Societies.
The catalytic role played by TBM has resulted in the turnover of Bamboo Sector in the State. Value addition is taking place in Agarbatti sector, new handicraft products have been designed and launched, marketing of products has been organized. A Bamboo Park has been set up on outskirts of capital city Agartala Bamboo Park has been set up, on outskirts of capital city Agartala, to facilitate setting up of bamboo-based industries. This is India’s only Bamboo Industrial Park. One Bamboo Floor Tiles unit and one Bamboo round stick making unit are already operational at the Bamboo Park.
