Maharashtra Bamboo Promotion Foundation

Maharashtra Bamboo Promotion Foundation is a not for profit company registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act. It has been promoted by Government of Maharashtra and Tata Trusts to develop the bamboo sector.

The  Government of Maharashtra issued a Government Resolution dated 24.8.2018 for creation of a multi stake holder organisation for bamboo development. Accordingly, Foundation was registered on 5.4.2019, and commenced its varied activities since August 2019. The administrative office of the Foundation is situated in Matunga East , Mumbai.

Vision

To have a vibrant bamboo sector in Maharashtra with the State being a trend setter for India

Mission

To help promote the bamboo sector through small , but critical interventions.To strengthen those already in bamboo sector, and to bring in new people to the fold.To add to the knowledge base and skill development in field of bamboo.

Board of Directors

• Shri Milind Mhaiskar, IAS, Principal Secretary, Forest Department, Government  of Maharashtra
• Shri TSK Reddy, IFS, MD, Maharashtra Bamboo Development Board, Nagpur
• Shri Ashish Deshpande ,  Tata Trusts

Chief Executive Officer

Shri Vishwanath Giriraj , IAS (Retired) is the Chief Exeucutive Officer of the Foundation since May 2019.
Shri Giriraj, has over twenty five years of association with the bamboo sector. He  had a major role in preparing  the first Action Plan for the Development of Bamboo and Cane sector for Government of India ( Ministry of Environment and Forests) in 1999. This was the first report which looked into bamboo as a resource. He was subsequently a Member Advisory Committee of the National Mission for Bamboo Applications (NMBA) Ministry of Science and Technology during the 2004-09 period.
Subsequently he Chaired a Committee appointed by Forest Department, Government of Maharashtra to Strengthen the Bamboo Sector in Maharashtra. One of the recommendations of the Committee was to create an independent multi stake holder organisation wherein the Government joins hands with other agencies like Trusts, Banks, corporates to create a multi stake holder agency.  The Maharashtra Bamboo Promotion Foundation has been created as per this recommendation.

Other Team Members

• Shri Dinesh Malekar , Manager- Administration
• Shri Abhishek Gawande, Manager- Projects
• Shri Anil Katke – Administrative Assistant

Our special focus areas

• Promoting organised bamboo markets, as pilots
• Development of some clusters for production, design and sales
• Value addition of bamboo in tribal  PESA areas
• Developing a pilot village showing usage of bamboo in housing construction
• Promotion of bamboo based agarbathi units to create local employment
• Linking architects and designers for the bamboo sector
• Support for block plantations of bamboo
• Creating awareness among younger generation regarding bamboo.
• Development of bamboo information centres , wherein all relevant information relating to bamboo are available in one roof ( physical and electronic)
• Support services to small bamboo entrepreneurs.