Kerala - Kozhikode   

Unit to make floor tiles from bamboo

KOZHIKODE: The Kerala State Bamboo Corporation will open a unit to make floor tiles from processed bamboo in Cheruvannur-Nallalam grama panchayat limits in the district.

The corporation reached an agreement with the panchayat on this on September 24. M.R. Anil Kumar, its managing director, said Rs.7 crore, set apart by the State government from the Central aid for the development of the bamboo sector, would be used to set up the high-tech industrial unit, which would use Chinese technology. Its annual capacity would be 18,000 square metres of tiles.

Mr. Anil Kumar said the quality product would be innovative, eco-friendly and effluent-free. He lauded the panchayat for providing land.

P.C. Rajan, panchayat president, said the local body was leasing out the land on the mini industrial campus at Nallalam.

“A major advantage of the enterprise is the employment potential. As many as 240 people will get direct employment and many will benefit through ancillary job opportunities,” Mr. Rajan said.

Mr. Anil Kumar said the unit was expected to go on stream by April. The tiles, priced Rs.90 a sq.m, would be for export initially. The domestic demand would be met over time.

A similar floor-tile unit functioned in the Northeast. A major industrial initiative for the development of value-added products from bamboo was launched two years ago in the State. Two bamboo processing units were started in Palakkad and Mananthavadi.

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