Bamboo can propel holistic growth of economy: CM

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, April 28: Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal said that State Government is promoting holistic growth of bamboo sector by adopting area-based, regiolly differentiated strategy to increase bamboo cultivation.

    Iugurating a two-day bamboo summit at Assam Administrative Staff College here this morning, Sonowal said, “People of Assam have grown up with bamboo. Bamboo culture has already been rooted in our minds for a long time”. Since bamboos constitute an important segment of the wealth of Assam, the State Government is committed to promoting a holistic growth of bamboo sector by adopting an exhaustive strategy to influence the growth of bamboo and its marketing.

He also said that using the latest technology, the vast resources of bamboo can be used as a force multiplier for rapid industrialization in the State. Sonowal also said that the people of Assam have the skills of working with bamboo. Promoting the use of bamboo as industry would also work as a catalyst to materialize Prime Minister rendra Modi’s dream of making the Northeast as an organic hub, Sonowal professed.

Urging the delegates of the summit to invest in bamboo and its allied sectors, Sonowal assured all help, cooperation and security from his government to sustain and flourish the bamboo industry. Reiterating his government’s commitment to transform Guwahati as a business capital of the entire South East Asian countries, Sonowal said that his government has been taking several steps to improve connectivity of the city, including its infrastructural facilities.

Sonowal further said that there are 26 bamboo species found in Assam and with an organized and a synergized approach the bamboo resources can be used to give a fillip to achieve a holistic growth of the economy without disturbing the environment. Bamboo is one of the strongest building materials and it is a critical element of the rural economy of the state which can also contribute to create an effective mechanism against soil erosion, Sonowal added.

Sonowal said that that Numaligarh Refinery Ltd. is implementing a ‘Bio-Refinery Project’ to produce ‘Fuel Grade Ethanol’ at a cost of Rs. 950 crore. “This plant will process five lakh tonnes of green bamboo annually which will help in the Ethanol Blending Programme of Government of India and will also promote large-scale local employment through bamboo cultivation and semi-processing facilities,” Sonowal added.

Organized by the Department of Industries and Commerce the summit aimed at bringing together relevant stakeholders to deliberate and discuss new ideas, new opportunities and new collaborations to eble Assam’s bamboo industry take the big leap.

Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India Tien Chung Kwang, Chairman of Assam Industrial Development Corporation Mission Ranjan Das, Chief Secretary VK Pipersenia and representatives across the spectrum were present at the summit.