The State Government is committed to provide its support to bamboo artisans. Women SHGs will be promoted to take up bamboo-based clusters with appropriate bank linkages, observed Sambalpur DRDA PD Sambalpur Sukanta Tripathy earlier this week while launching the ‘Promote bamboo MSME cluster for sustainable development’ project at Sambalpur.
Notably, the project is implemented in nine potential States by the Foundation for MSME Cluster (FMC), Small Industries Development Bank (SIDBI), Commonwealth Educational Media for Asia (CEMCA) and Copenhagen Business School (CBS) under the European Union Switch Asia programme.
The Aide et Action is facilitating the programme in four States, including Odisha. In the State, Sambalpur has been selected as the hub of the project and Balangir, Bargarh and Subarnapur are potential districts considering the availability of bamboo and traditional artisans in the districts.
The project in Odisha intends to promote at least 250 enterprises of which 40 per cent are women- owned MSMEs and creating 1,000 green jobs. At least 10 new institutional buyers will be linked to source five high potential bamboo products from the targeted cluster and nearby area through at least 10 successful business start-ups, observed Director-Migration and Education, Aide et Action, South Asia Umi Daniel.
Around 3,000 existing bamboo artisans in Sambalpur, Balangir, Bargarh and Subarnapur districts have been identified out of which 150 potential entrepreneurs have been selected in first phase among artisans, aggregators, cultivators and furniture units , Daniel said further.
General Manager of Foundation for MSME Cluster Sangeeta Agasty highlighted the backdrop and perspective of the programme, while Manager of SIDBI Md Adil Ahsan expressed that all players in the supply chain should join hands to promote bamboo cluster in the State.
The officials from Handicraft, ORMAS, OLM, Forest shared various schemes which can be leveraged for bamboo based entrepreneurs and possible collaborations.