Bamboo Forward Summit Highlights Roadmap for Enterprise-Led Growth in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The “Bamboo Forward Summit — From Ground to Growth” was successfully organised, bringing together farmers, artisans, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and policymakers to chart a future roadmap for strengthening Odisha’s bamboo sector.

The summit emerged as a key platform to deliberate on transforming the state’s abundant bamboo resources into a sustainable, enterprise-driven ecosystem, with a focus on livelihood generation and economic growth.

Delivering the keynote address, Chief Guest Bhaskar Jyoti Sarma, Principal Secretary of Forest, Environment, and Climate Change, Government of Odisha, underscored bamboo’s potential as a powerful driver of green livelihoods. He emphasized the need for an integrated and industry-oriented approach, highlighting value addition, development of engineered bamboo products, and strengthening market linkages as critical priorities.

A series of technical sessions throughout the day explored diverse themes, including bamboo potential in Community Forest Rights areas, grassroots experiences from Koraput, industrial applications such as biochar, and certification frameworks to ensure quality standards. Experts also stressed the importance of convergence with major government initiatives such as Odisha Forestry Sector Development Project, Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority, Odisha Forest Development Corporation, Mission Shakti, and other livelihood missions to enable holistic sectoral growth.

The post-lunch sessions shifted focus to market dynamics, featuring trader interactions and a roundtable discussion. These engagements provided valuable insights into scaling bamboo-based enterprises, with stakeholders emphasizing cluster-based development, design-led product diversification, enhanced market access, and improved financial linkages.

The summit witnessed participation from senior officials and sector experts, including K. Murugesan, PCCF & HoFF, Odisha; Swayam Mallik, Director (Operations), OFDC Ltd.; Karthick V., SMD of the Odisha Bamboo Development Agency; and Sangeeta Agasty, Director of the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization South East Asia Region.