KVIC (Khadi and Village Industries Commission) proposes lifting of “Export Prohibition” on Bamboo Charcoal for Higher Profitability of Bamboo Industry
Earlier, in order to create more employment in bamboo-based industries, particularly in Agarbatti industry, KVIC (Khadi and Village Industries Commission), in 2019, had requested the Government for policy changes in import of 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.
An amendment in export policy for Bamboo products under the HS code 141100 was made in 2017, wherein exports of all the Bamboo products were kept in the OGL category and were “Free” to exports. However, exports of Bamboo Charcoal, Bamboo Pulp and unprocessed shoots were still kept under prohibited category.
Now Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has urged Government to lift the “export prohibition” on bamboo charcoal for optimum utilization of raw bamboo and higher profitability in the bamboo industry. One of the biggest challenges that the Indian bamboo industry faces today is the extremely high input cost owing to inadequate utilization of bamboo. However, export of bamboo charcoal would ensure complete utilization of the bamboo waste and thus make the bamboo business more profitable.
KVIC Chairman Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena has written to Union Minister of Commerce and Industries, Shri Piyush Goyal, seeking to lift the export restriction on bamboo charcoal for larger benefit of the bamboo industry.
Bamboo waste can be best utilized by making “Bamboo Charcoal” which, though, has a very limited use within the domestic market but it is hugely in demand in the international market. However, the Indian bamboo industry is not able to tap the opportunity due to its “export prohibition”. Considering the repeated requests of the industry, KVIC has requested the government to consider lifting the export restriction on bamboo charcoal.
Notably, the world import demand of bamboo charcoal has been hovering in the range of USD 1.5 to 2 billion and has been growing at the rate of 6% in recent years. Bamboo Charcoal for Barbeque sells for about Rs 21,000 to Rs 25,000 per ton in the international market. Besides, it is also used for soil nutrition and as a raw material for manufacturing Activated Charcoal. Rising import demand is witnessed in countries like USA, Japan, Korea, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France and UK at negligible import duty.
