National Bamboo Mission

The National Bamboo Mission will be a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, in which the contribution of the
Central Government will be 100%. The Scheme will be implemented by the Division of Horticulture under
the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation in the Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi. The allocation of
₹1,290 crore for a restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM) has raised hopes for a range of bamboo-
based industries – from food professing to construction. This will help the people of rural and tribal areas.
Bamboo is essentially a type of grass, but its classification as a tree for 90 years prevented the northeast,
which grows 67% of India’s bamboo, from exploiting it commercially unlike China, the only country with
richer bamboo genetic resources.

The main objectives of the Mission are:

To promote the growth of the bamboo sector through as an area based regionally differentiated
strategy;
To increase the coverage of area under bamboo in potential areas, with improved varieties to
enhance yields;
To promote marketing of bamboo and bamboo based handicrafts;
To establish convergence and synergy among stakeholders for the development of bamboo;
To promote, develop and disseminate technologies through a seamless blend of traditional
wisdom and modern scientific knowledge.