India's First Bamboo Park in Tripura

Agartala, Apr 6 : India's first bamboo park and second rubber industrial park are being set up in the northeastern state of Tripura to promote exports and to bring about a natural revolution in the elastic polymer industry, officials said here Wednesday.

The bamboo park, a joint venture between the Tripura Industrial Development Corporation (TIDC) and the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL and FS) limited, is being set up at a cost of Rs.25 crore.

With a project cost of Rs.23 crore, the rubber park, also a joint venture between the TIDC and the Rubber Board, is the second of its kind in the country after the one at Kerala's Irapuram.

Both the projects are being set up at the northeast India's biggest industrial zone located at western Tripura's Bodhjungnagar, some 25 km north of Tripura capital Agartala.

"An export promotion industrial park (EPIP) and a food park are also being set up in Bodhjungnagar at a cost of Rs.10 crore and Rs.7 crore respectively," TIDC chairman Pabitra Kar told reporters.

IL and FS, one of India's leading infrastructure development and finance companies promoted by various banks and financial institutions, is the project management agency of the rubber park, where at least 20 rubber-based industrial projects would be set up within the next three years.

Tripura is the second largest rubber producer in the country after Kerala, with 55,340 hectares of land so far brought under cultivation.

"In the bamboo park, the core focus would be on the development of specialised common facilities and support infrastructure to build the competitive strength of the various units and enable them to tap the global markets," the industrial corporation chief said.

He added: "The total turnover of the different enterprises expected to be set up in the bamboo park is estimated at Rs.65-70 crore. It is also estimated that at least 75 percent of the turnover will be generated from exports."

The TIDC, which has been making profit for the past five years, has also taken up infrastructure development for two more industrial zones - one at Dukli and another at Tulakona in western Tripura.

TIDC chairman also said that several Bangladeshi farms have also shown keen interest to set up joint venture projects at Bodhjunjnagar, where all basic facilities for the industrial units are now available.