The government has lifted the “export prohibition” on bamboo charcoal, a move that would facilitate optimum utilisation of raw bamboo and higher profitability in the Indian bamboo industry.

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), which is supporting thousands of bamboo-based industries in the country, had been persistently requesting the government to lift the export restriction on bamboo charcoal.

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KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena had written to Minister of Commerce and Industries Piyush Goyal, seeking to lift the export restriction on bamboo charcoal for the larger benefit of the bamboo industry.

“All the bamboo charcoal made from bamboo obtained from legal sources are permitted for export subject to proper documentation/certificate of origin proving that the bamboo used for making charcoal has been obtained from legal sources,” read a notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

The KVIC chairman thanked the commerce minister for the policy amendment, saying the decision would reduce the high input cost of raw bamboo and make the bamboo-based industries, mostly in remote rural areas, financially profitable.

“Bamboo charcoal has a huge demand in the international market and lifting of export prohibition by the government will enable the Indian bamboo industry to tap this opportunity and exploit the huge global demand. This will also ensure optimum utilisation of bamboo waste and thus contribute to the Prime Minister’s vision of Waste to Wealth,” he said.

The Indian bamboo industry, at present, is grappling with extremely high input costs owing to the inadequate utilisation of bamboo. In India, bamboo is mostly used in the manufacturing of Agarbatti wherein, a maximum of 16 per cent is used for manufacturing bamboo sticks while the remaining 84 per cent is a complete waste.

As a result, the bamboo input cost for Round bamboo sticks is in the range of Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 per MT as against the average bamboo cost of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per MT.

However, the export of bamboo charcoal would ensure complete utilisation of the bamboo waste and thus make the bamboo business more profitable.

Bamboo charcoal for barbeque, soil nutrition and as a raw material for manufacturing activated charcoal, has great potential in international markets like the US, Japan, Korea, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France and the UK.