India’s first bamboo park coming up in Tripura

Tripura, which grows 25 varieties of bamboo, is about to make the most of this natural wealth - by developing India's first bamboo park. The idea is to help expand industries based on this produce, also known as 'green gold'.

Industries, Commerce and Forest Minister Jitendra Chowdhury said the bamboo park would produce hundreds of value-added items and also facilitate export of bamboo products.

"The thrust of the bamboo park would be to give a fillip to growers who are forced to sell raw bamboo and its products at a cheap rate. Bamboo growers and artisans would gain enormously if value addition is ensured," Chowdhury said. Chief minister Manik Sarkar kicked off the work for setting up the bamboo park, to be created at a cost of Rs30 crore at Radhakishore Nagar, near Bodhjunjnagar industrial growth centre in western Tripura, 15 km north of state capital Agartala. Being created over an area of 70 acres, the bamboo park would be ready by March next year.
"Besides trade and business facilitation to bamboo splitting and slivering, all kinds of modern facilities and latest techniques would be available in the proposed park," said Chowdhury adding that more than 40 bamboo species are available in the northeastern region with 25 species in Tripura alone.

Of the 1,250 bamboo species throughout the world, India has 145. Bamboo forests in India occupy approximately 10.03 million hectares, almost 12.8% of the total forest area.