Telangana seeks Karnataka’s bamboo expertise

After becoming an independent state, the Telangana government has come out with policies to encourage bamboo cultivation, said M Venkateshwarlu, President, Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

He was speaking at the conference ‘Bamboo as an alternative to fossil fuel: opportunities ahead’, at the Asean-Chambers of Commerce and Industry Business meet, organised by FKCCI on Wednesday.

“Policies for cultivating and using bamboo have been made. To take it forward, we invite the Karnataka forest department officials to help in bamboo cultivation,” Venkateshwarlu said.

S Babu, FKCCI, past president also invited forest department officials to help FKCCI in guiding new entrepreneurs and start-ups, which are being trained and guided by them.

Raj Kumar Srivastava, additional principal chief conservator of forests, National Afforestation Programme and Bamboo Mission, said 70% of bamboo is grown outside forest areas, so it can be utilised for commercial purposes.

N Barathi, founder director, Growmore Biotech, said apart from making bamboo-based products like furniture, kitchen items, phone holders and pens, any companies are working on using bamboo to generate fuel and electricity. In some places, like in Mangaluru, oxygen park restaurants are using bamboo to ensure people get fresh and healthy air. This trend is gaining momentum globally and is still gradual in India.