AGARTALA: Tripura’s iconic bamboo bottle that set off a nationwide buzz after launch in the first month of 2020, now set to be used for official use in central agencies like ICAR and ISRO.
A number of agencies have expressed their interest to procure these bottles for internal office use, said officials.
The development came as an outcome of aggressive marketing of the product carried out by the North East Center of Technology Application and Reach after the preparation of the first prototype of the product.
“NECTAR and the government of Tripura exchanged letters with different agencies requesting the organizations, institutes of different disciplines to procure bamboo bottles for their official use. The intention was to create a primary market as per the potentials of the product,” said Dr. Abhinab Kant, head of Bamboo and Cane Development Institute (BCDI) that works under the aegis of NECTAR.
“But, the plans got stalled due to the advent of the Covid 19 pandemic. But, as soon as things stumbled back to normalcy, things seemed to be pulling through for the bottles. A lot of agencies including ICAR placed demands for the bottles,” Kant added.
According to Dr Kant, some technological advancement has been also brought into practice to scale up the production in the state.
“The whole manufacturing process of the bamboo bottle was handmade in the first place. Now, certain machines are developed for cutting, treatment and giving the much-needed cylindrical shape to the bottle. With the introduction of the machinery works, the production process becomes easier for the interested entrepreneurs”, he said.
To meet the demand, he said, “we are planning to distribute bamboo pipes and the interior material made of copper, steel or glass to the artists for assembling”.