Clustering of Bamboo Enterprises in NE India: Bairabi Cluster, Mizoram

Abstract

Handicrafts of India represent our cultural tradition in the true sense, replete with products made with the help of simple, indigenous tools by crafts people who belong within a strong fabric of tradition, aesthetics and artistry. Mizoram is one of the most promising states for developing bamboo enterprise in India, with around 57 per cent of the state’s geographical area under bamboo cover. In the absence of large industries, handicraft sector plays an important role in the Mizo economy. Clusters and clustering of small firms is increasingly becoming an important tool in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) development in both developed and the developing economies. The present paper, based on a diagnostic study of the rural cluster of Bairabi in Mizoram, where craftsmen have been engaging in producing bamboo products for decades, proposes to trace the history and evaluate the growth of the cluster in terms of sales, product mix, number of enterprises and sales turnover. The researcher suggests the need to initiate cluster development activities in this cluster to enable it to sustain and grow.Ideally, implementation of centrally sponsored schemes such as Baba Sahib AmbedkarHastashilpaVikasYojana, Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Tradional industries (SFURTI) and others would enable the cluster to progress on a growth trajectory