Coir Expo aims to proliferates and flourish in Assam, organises four days Coir expo in Guwahati

Coir Board, with support from the Ministry of micro, small & medium enterprise has organised a 4 days expo in Jyotichitraban Kahilipara Guwahati. The expo started on 23rd of March and will end on 26th of March. The inauguration took place in presence of Hon’ble Shri D Kuppuramu ji (Chairman Coir Board) and Hon’ble Shri Lakshmana S, IAS (Secretary, Minister of Industry Govt of Assam) and Jitendra Kumar Shukla (Secretary Coir Board). The expo aims at promoting Coir and its uses.

Coir Board was set up under the Coir Industry Act, 1953 by the Government of India for the overall sustainable development of the coir industry in the Country.

 The functions of the Board as laid down under the Act include undertaking, assisting and encouraging scientific, technological and economic research, modernization, quality improvement, human resource development, market promotion and welfare of all those who are engaged in this industry.

The functions mandated under the Coir Industry Act are carried out by Coir Board under the various Schemes/Programmes, including research and development activities, training programmes, extending financial support for setting up of coir units, domestic as well as export market development, welfare measures to the workers etc.

● Coir industry sustains more than 7 lakhs of coir workers, predominantly women, in different States of the country.

● It is estimated that around 80% of the workforce in the industry are women and it plays a vital role in rural women empowerment in many coastal districts of the country.

● There are 1570 registered coir exporters in the country.

● The export of the Coir and Coir products from India during the year 2020-21 registered an all-time high record of Rs 3778.98 crores with an increase of over Rs 1021 crores from the previous year. The increase in value works out to 37% in comparison with the 2019-20 figures. Coir Board is focused to achieve Rs. 7000 crores of coir exports in a couple of years.

● Under PMEGP (Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme), Coir Units have been started in different states of the country.

● Coir products are eco-friendly in nature and gained “Eco Mark” certification by the Ministry of Environment and Forests Govt. Of India.

● Coir products save the environment and help to reverse Global Warming.

o “Coir pith” used to save water

o “Coir Geotextiles” used to save soil

o “Coir Wood” used to save trees and forest

● The Board’s Research Institutes are Undertaking new R&D projects in coir with various CSIR units and Universities, in the field of spinning and product diversification.

● The initiatives of the Coir Board have led to a series of product development and diversification activities that have helped to launch a number of value-added products, meeting consumer needs. New end-use applications of coir like the use of coir Gertextiles for preventing soil erosion, conservation of Coir Pith into a valuable biofertilizer and soil conditioner and Coir Garden articles have gained popularity in India and abroad. The growing affinity towards environment-friendly products has helped coir and coir products in domestic as well as foreign markets.

● In Gujarat, the Ministry of MSME has sanctioned the following 2 SFURTI clusters with a project outlay of Rs 472.73 lakhs, which will throw open more employment opportunities.

Coir geo textiles protect the land surface and promote quick vegetation

Coir board supplied worth 1.1 crore geotextiles and geo logs to the Brahmaputra board during this financial year 2022-23 for the use of soil control at Majali, Assam

Export of coir products has also increased to 434 crores for the year 2021-22 in comparison to the year 2020-21 i.e. Rs.378 crores