The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has highlighted how bamboo is emerging as a significant source of employment and entrepreneurship across India. A policy shift in 2017 removed bamboo from outdated forestry regulations that had classified it as a tree, opening the sector to wider commercial activity. The change is now generating livelihoods for farmers, small entrepreneurs, and women’s groups, particularly in the Northeast and other regions.
What the government has done and the results so far
In 2017, the government reclassified bamboo, freeing it from restrictive forestry laws that had existed since the British era. This single policy change enabled farmers and craftspeople to harvest, transport, and trade bamboo more easily.
The National Bamboo Mission supports cultivation, processing, market access, and quality nurseries for bamboo growers and manufacturers. The North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) has promoted bamboo use in food processing, construction materials, renewable energy, and industrial products.
Results include:
- Approximately 30 million man-days of employment generated annually
- Value addition in bamboo commodities increased from 10 percent to as high as 70 percent
- More than 42 lakh square feet of engineered bamboo structures built for disaster relief
- 576 school rooms constructed with engineered bamboo in Chhattisgarh, housing around 20,000 children
- The Gadchiroli Agarbatti Project in Maharashtra operating 32 production centres by 2020, employing nearly 1,100 people, of whom 90 percent were women, earning approximately ₹5,000 monthly
Training programmes continue to build capacity. In June 2026, the CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute conducted a five-day training in bamboo handicrafts for women’s Self-Help Groups, covering harvesting, processing, product development, entrepreneurship, and marketing.
What this means for you
If you are a farmer in regions with bamboo cultivation potential, you can now grow bamboo as a crop with government support and training, potentially earning from both bamboo poles and intercropping opportunities. If you belong to a women’s Self-Help Group or are an entrepreneur, the removal of regulatory barriers and availability of training make it easier to start a bamboo-based business in crafts, incense, furniture, or food products. Access to markets through government exhibitions and trade fairs has also improved for bamboo producers.