GUWAHATI, April 26 – In a major initiative towards achieving the target of harnessing the huge potential of the bamboo industry in Assam, the Sarbananda Sonowal-led State Government will be organising the first ever Green Gold Bamboo Summit in Guwahati on April 28 and 29.

The Summit, to be held under the aegis of the Assam Industrial Development Corporation, will see participation of international and national level industry leaders, policy makers and stakeholders, in addition to local entrepreneurs and artisans.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary will delineate the State Government’s plans vis-à-vis the bamboo industry during the Summit.

“The Northeast India in general and Assam in particular has immense untapped potential in the bamboo sector. Bamboo is something that is intricately linked to our social and cultural practices, but its global business potential is immense in the current context and we need to tap it. This Summit, with the participation of leaders from the bamboo technology sector, will be our government’s first step towards realising this potential. This will also be an important aspect of the Make in Assam thrust of our government,” an official statement quoted the Chief Minister as saying.

Industry Minister Patowary said the Summit will bring on one platform top technologists and industry leaders from the sector. “The idea is to create linkages between them and our own bamboo cultivators and local industrialists so that we can leverage that to bring innovative bamboo product industries to Assam in the near future,” he says.

Non-governmental organisation Care Luit in association with GreenGoldBamboo.com is the event execution partner of the summit, which will be a platform that will bring together relevant stakeholders to deliberate and discuss new ideas, new opportunities, new collaborations to enable Assam’s bamboo industry take the big leap.

“As an organisation, our objective is to reach out to all sections of society for betterment of lives. Bamboo is a very important sector of our State, and we hope initiatives like this will help drive socio-economic development,” says Kishor Jayanta Madhab, managing trustee of Care Luit.

India has the second largest reserves of bamboo in the world, and much of this is in Northeastern India. Leveraging this can spur gainful employment and income generation in Assam and the rest of the region, where bamboo is an intrinsic part of the local culture.

“The Summit is designed to witness the Assam government leadership articulate its policy intent while industry representatives get to share their experience and gain from the emerging conversation. It will bring live innovative and interactive formats to make bamboo top of the mind in terms of its use, relevance and influence,” says Raktim Das, Founder of SMEpost.com which is the digital media partner of the summit.

“Bamboo is one of the fastest growing renewable natural resource and the super material of the 21st century, given its diverse use. Leveraging this can spur gainful employment and income generation. It has huge potential in transforming job seekers into job creators,” he says.

Bamboo has immense economic potential. Bamboo flooring is a hot trend. It is uniquely attractive, strong, resilient, moisture and stain resistant and environmentally friendly. Bamboo is also increasingly used for making panels and cabinets, decorative handicraft and furniture. Bamboo charcoal has found extensive use in personal and healthcare products. Many nutritious and active minerals can be extracted from bamboo – these have antioxidation, anti-ageing, anti-bacterial and anti-viral functions.

Use of bamboo as a source of energy offers another huge opportunity. Bamboo shoots have nutritional properties. It has huge prospects for utilisation as a health food, the statement added.