Varanasi,  Pradyut Dhar, an assistant professor at the School of Biochemical Engineering, IIT(BHU) Varanasi, is among the top five winners in prototype development stage category in the recently-conducted National Bamboo Innovation Challenge 2022.

The award was conferred to Dr Dhar and his team for the recent technological innovation and development in the bamboo sector which opens up new business opportunities for industries and start-ups.

The programme has been supported by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and managed by Finovista on behalf of the Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC).

Dhar said his team at the Laboratory of Chem Bio systems and Technology has been instrumental in working on the "SmartyBamboo" project which aims to develop high-performance products, using bamboo as base materials that can be easily translated at a commercial scale.

The objective is to promote bamboo as a sustainable material replacing the petroleum-based products as well as help improve the rural economy.

He said the "SmartyBamboo" project developed four kinds of bamboo based value-added products which help widen the applications of bamboo in various new sectors such as agriculture, smart textiles, healthcare, food packaging, automotive parts, glow road signals at night, smart building and high strength construction materials.

All the products are produced through green and sustainable chemical-based processes which are biodegradable in nature.

Most of the business opportunities for bamboo-based products are confined to the rural areas which reduces the potential market.

The developed bamboo-based products in this project can easily be translated to startups, companies or NGOs for production with help of low-skilled workers and, thereby, may improve the financial return for personnel involved in the sector.

Dhar further said that India is the world's second largest producer of bamboo, however, the country's share in the trade and commerce of bamboo-based products globally is merely about 4 per cent.

The advancement of such technological innovations both in terms of bamboo-based products and processing units, coupled with skill development is required to create an entire value chain which is supported through the National Bamboo Mission.