New Delhi, May 20 (FN Bureau) The Government on Friday lifted the export prohibition on bamboo charcoal, a move that would facilitate optimum utilization of raw bamboo and higher profitability in the Indian bamboo industry. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), which is supporting thousands of bamboo-based industries in the country, was persistently requesting the government to lift the export restriction on bamboo charcoal, an official statement said. KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena had written to Commerce and Industries Minister 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 or certificate of origin proving that the bamboo used for making charcoal has been obtained from legal sources,” the notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said.
Mr Saxena said, “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.” The Indian bamboo industry, at present, is grappling with extremely high input cost owing to inadequate utilization of bamboo. In India, bamboo is mostly used in manufacturing of Agarbatti wherein, a maximum of 16% is used for manufacturing of bamboo sticks while the remaining 84% of bamboo 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, export of bamboo charcoal would ensure complete utilization of the bamboo waste and thus make the bamboo business more profitable. Earlier, in order to create more employment in bamboo-based industries, particularly in Agarbatti industry, KVIC, in 2019, had requested the Central Government for policy changes in import on raw Agarbatti and import duty on round bamboo sticks that were heavily imported from Vietnam and China. Subsequently, in September 2019, the Ministry of Commerce “restricted” the import of raw Agarbatti and in June 2020, the Ministry of Finance increased the import duty on round bamboo sticks.