Narayan Rane inaugurates KONBAC-SFURTI Bamboo Cluster at Kudal

Tags: Economics/Business

Union Minister for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), Shri Narayan Rane  inaugurated the KONBAC SFURTI (Konkan Bamboo and Cane Development Centre - Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries) bamboo cluster at Kudal, Sindhudurg on 25 February 2022. The cluster will support 300 artisans.

The Ministry of MSME has released Rs 1.45 crore for setting up of the cluster.

Konkan Bamboo and Cane Development Centre - Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (KONBAC)

It is an independent non-profit organisation which has developed into a self-sustaining institutional ecosystem and has a fully developed facility for designing, prototyping and producing premium bamboo products for Indian and international markets. 

It has in place mechanisms to link poor bamboo producers to larger lucrative markets and has already emerged as a model that is being emulated elsewhere in India and overseas.

Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI)

It was launched by the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in 2005 to  promote Cluster development.

• Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is the nodal Agency for promotion of Cluster development for Khadi. 

• The scheme organises traditional industries and artisans into clusters to make them competitive and provide support for their long term sustainability. It also aims to provide sustained employment for traditional Industry artisans and rural entrepreneurs.

Bamboo 

Is Bamboo a Tree?

The Indian Forest act 1927 considered bamboo as a tree. It meant that people couldn't cut or transport bamboo as it was under the control of the forest department. It was considered illegal.

The act was amended in 2017 and bamboo was classified as grass. It means that bamboos which are grown in non  forest areas can be cut and transported without the permission of the forest department .

Scientifically also Bamboo is not a tree but a type of grass.

Fact file Bamboo 

China is the largest producer of Bamboo in the world and India is the second largest producer of Bamboo in the world .

State  having maximum Bamboo bearing area 

Total bamboo bearing area in India (15 million hectare)

Madhya Pradesh       1.84 million hectare 

Arunachal Pradesh      1.57 million hectare 

Maharashtra        1.35 million hectare  

Odisha             1.12 million hectare 

Source : Indian State of Forest Report 2021.