A first of its kind project was inaugurated by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) which aims at exploring profitable venture of sandalwood and bamboo tree plantation for monetization of its assets. The KVIC has begun a drive of the planting of 500 samplings of sandalwood and bamboo over an area of 262 acres in Nashik, Maharashtra which has been lauded by the Union Minister for Micro Small Medium Enterprise(MSME), Nitin Gadkari
The KVIC said that the sandalwood saplings were procured from Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC) Kannauj which is a unit under the MSME ministry while the bamboo plants were brought from Assam. The plantation drive was launched by the chairman of KVIC Vinai Kumar Saxena.
The project aims to develop the sandalwood assets of between 50-60 crores in the next ten to fifteen years. The average maturity period for a sandalwood tree is between 10 to 15 years and their price is estimated to be between Rs. 10 to Rs. 12 lakh per tree.
Recently the KVIC had also announced to plant saplings of a variety of Bamboo called the Bambusa Tulda which is used in making agarbattis. It is estimated that a single bamboo plant gets ready for harvest by the third year and produces five logs each weighing 25 kg with each log selling price adjudged to be at Rs 125. After the third year, the production of bamboo logs doubles every year. So, 500 bamboo saplings will provide 2500 bamboo logs which can create an income of more than Rs. 3 lakh.
Plantation of sandalwood and bamboo trees on vacant land aims at monetization of the property. At the same time, it will serve the dual purpose of meeting the huge global demand of Sandalwood while Bamboo plantation will support the local Agarbatti manufacturers in the light of the recent decision taken by the Central government to make India ‘Aatmanirbhar’ in Agarbatti making,” KVIC Chairman, Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena said.
