Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday, 15 June 2026 dedicated the Arunachal Pradesh Bamboo & Cane Technology Centre (APB&CTC) at Gungu/Khamir to the people of the state, in the presence of Forest Minister Wangki Lowang, MLA Nabam Vivek, and other dignitaries. The centre is positioned as a hub for skill development, innovation, entrepreneurship, and livelihood generation centred on the state's bamboo and cane resources.

Context

Inaugurating the facility, Chief Minister Khandu described the APB&CTC as 'not merely a workshop' but a transformative institution where 'our youth can learn, create, produce, and transform Arunachal's Green Gold into sustainable income and employment opportunities.' The phrase 'Green Gold' — a widely used term for bamboo in Northeast India — underscores the state government's framing of bamboo as a high-value economic crop rather than a forest byproduct.

The centre at Gungu/Khamir is designed to anchor a bamboo value chain — from cultivation and processing to finished products — giving young people in the region access to vocational training and enterprise support under one roof.

Policy Backdrop

The inauguration draws directly on a landmark regulatory change at the national level. In 2017, the Indian Forest (Amendment) Act reclassified bamboo as a grass rather than a tree, effectively removing the transit permits and felling restrictions that had long constrained its cultivation, harvest, and commercial movement across state lines.

Chief Minister Khandu credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for 'taking the historic decision to recognise bamboo as a grass and remove long-standing legal restrictions on its cultivation, harvest, and transportation,' calling it a 'visionary reform' that 'unlocked immense opportunities for bamboo-growing states like Arunachal Pradesh.' The 2017 amendment is widely regarded as the legal foundation on which states with large bamboo reserves — particularly in the Northeast — have been able to build commercial and institutional frameworks around the crop.

Stakeholders and Impact

Arunachal Pradesh holds some of the largest bamboo reserves in India, making the APB&CTC directly relevant to thousands of rural households and young job-seekers across the state. Bamboo cultivators who previously faced legal and logistical barriers to selling their produce commercially stand to benefit from both the regulatory change and the institutional infrastructure the centre provides.

Forest Minister Wangki Lowang and MLA Nabam Vivek were present at the dedication, signalling cross-departmental and legislative support for the initiative. The centre's mandate — spanning skill development, innovation, and entrepreneurship — positions it as a node connecting forest-based livelihoods to the broader rural economy of the state.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the rollout of structured training programmes at the APB&CTC and whether the state government scales up similar bamboo value-chain infrastructure to other bamboo-rich districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The centre's success in generating measurable employment and enterprise outcomes will be the benchmark against which the investment is judged. If the model proves replicable, it could serve as a template for other Northeast states looking to monetise their bamboo reserves within the post-2017 regulatory framework.