What is the Restructured National Bamboo Mission and which ministry runs it?

The Restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM) is a centrally-sponsored scheme of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India. It was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 25 April 2018 with an outlay of ₹1,290 crore for the remaining period of the 14th Finance Commission (2018-19 and 2019-20) and has continued thereafter as the umbrella scheme for bamboo development in India. It is the successor to the earlier National Bamboo Mission (2006-07) and the National Mission on Bamboo Applications, and was restructured to explicitly address bamboo on non-forest and private land — closing the gap between forest-based bamboo policy and the actual demand for bamboo as a farm crop.

Why was NBM 'restructured' in 2018 — what changed on the policy side?

Two policy shifts prompted the restructuring. First, the Indian Forest (Amendment) Act 2017 removed bamboo grown on non-forest land from the legal definition of 'tree' under Section 2(7) of the Indian Forest Act 1927 — home-grown bamboo therefore no longer requires felling and transit permits from state forest departments, unlocking bamboo as a proper farm and homestead crop. Second, an inter-ministerial review found that earlier bamboo schemes had focused disproportionately on forest-owned bamboo and had underserved the value chain — nurseries, plantations on private land, primary processing, treatment, common facility centres and market linkage. The restructured NBM therefore adopts a value-chain approach and channels most of its funding to non-forest land bamboo, private growers, FPOs, SHGs, artisans and MSMEs.

What activities does NBM fund along the bamboo value chain?

NBM funding is organised end-to-end. On the upstream end it supports Tissue Culture Units and Certified Big / High-tech / Small nurseries producing quality planting material; block plantations on farmer land and on non-forest government land; and maintenance grants for plantations across the establishment years. In the midstream it funds primary processing units, bamboo treatment plants (bamboo has to be treated to be durable for construction and handicrafts), Common Facility Centres (CFCs) and product-development units. Downstream it supports design and skill development, retail outlets, e-commerce enablement and marketing — including exhibitions, buyer-seller meets and market intelligence. The mission also underwrites Bamboo Technology Parks and Bamboo Bazaars in identified clusters, and Research & Development grants routed through ICAR, ICFRE and State Agricultural Universities.

How much subsidy can a farmer, FPO or entrepreneur get under NBM?

Under the operational guidelines issued by NBM and the DA&FW, subsidy is delivered against unit cost norms notified for each intervention. For farmer plantations on private land the assistance is typically 50% of the notified unit cost per hectare (₹100 per plant with an average density of 400 plants/ha for block plantations, i.e. up to ₹40,000 per hectare — subject to the latest notified rates), staggered over three years so that maintenance and gap-filling are also covered. Assistance for tissue culture units, nurseries, treatment plants and CFCs is delivered through a matching-grant model where the central share is usually 50-60% of project cost for individual entrepreneurs and MSMEs, with higher grant components for SC / ST / NER / hill / island beneficiaries and for FPOs and SHG-run federations. Bamboo Technology Parks receive block grants for infrastructure creation. Exact rates evolve with each annual Action Plan — the notified unit costs in the latest NBM operational guideline on nbm.nic.in are the authoritative reference.

Which agencies implement NBM on the ground?

The nodal implementing authority at the centre is the National Bamboo Mission cell in DA&FW, supported by the Mission Steering Committee. Each participating state constitutes a State Bamboo Mission and appoints a State Nodal Department — usually the Agriculture or Horticulture Department, or the State Forest Department (for forest-land components) — with a State Bamboo Development Agency (SBDA) or State Mission Directorate that receives central funds and channels them to district and block units. Field-level delivery is through State Agricultural Universities, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (see our KVK directory), ICFRE / ICAR institutes, and empanelled implementing agencies such as forest development corporations, TRIFED, KVIC and specialised bamboo agencies. Farmer proposals typically flow: farmer / FPO → Block/District Bamboo Development Officer → State Bamboo Mission → NBM cell (for release of central assistance).

How does NBM converge with other agri schemes and MGNREGS?

NBM converges with several other schemes to stretch its per-rupee impact. MGNREGS funds bamboo nurseries and plantation labour on private land under its 'Development of land productive on the private land of individual beneficiaries' category — the labour component of a bamboo plantation is often booked to MGNREGS while NBM funds planting material, inputs and maintenance grants. MIDH (see our /midh guide) supports bamboo where it is treated as horticulture, particularly in the North-East. RKVY (see our /rkvy guide) lets states co-fund bamboo infrastructure — Bamboo Technology Parks, incubation centres for bamboo start-ups — through state-specific components. PMFME (see our /pmfme guide) supports micro food processing enterprises for bamboo shoot pickles, canned shoots and shoot-based ready-to-eat products in ODOP clusters. The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (see our /aif guide) provides 3% interest-subvention loans of up to ₹2 crore for treatment plants, CFCs and cold-chain infrastructure. MOVCDNER (see our /movcdner guide) has funded organic bamboo shoot value chains in the North-East.

What are the priority states and species under NBM?

India accounts for a very large share of the world's bamboo genetic resources, with the North-East alone contributing more than half of the country's bamboo cover. NBM identifies the eight North-Eastern states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura), Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat and Rajasthan as priority states based on agro-climatic suitability, existing bamboo cover and demand from the handicraft, agarbatti, construction, furniture and pulp industries. Around 20 to 25 species are commercially important, including Dendrocalamus stocksii, Dendrocalamus strictus (male bamboo — dominant in central Indian dry deciduous forests), Bambusa bambos (giant thorny bamboo — south India), Bambusa tulda and Bambusa balcooa (backbone of North-East and eastern India plantations), Melocanna baccifera (muli bamboo — North-East), Dendrocalamus hamiltonii and Ochlandra species. The NBM operational guidelines list species-wise agro-climatic suitability and planting geometry.

Where can a farmer or FPO apply, and what are the official sources for NBM updates?

Individual farmers and FPOs apply through the State Bamboo Mission or the district-level Bamboo Development Officer / Agriculture / Horticulture Department. For entrepreneurial units — tissue-culture nurseries, treatment plants, CFCs, Bamboo Technology Parks — the route is a Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted through the State Bamboo Mission to the NBM cell in DA&FW. Farmer training and demonstrations are accessible through the nearest Krishi Vigyan Kendra (see our /krishi-vigyan-kendras directory) and State Agricultural University or ICFRE institute (see our /universities-research-institutes directory). The authoritative sources are the National Bamboo Mission portal at nbm.nic.in, the DA&FW operational guidelines on agriwelfare.gov.in, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) at icfre.gov.in, the Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) at cbtc.res.in, and the Bureau of Indian Standards codes for bamboo construction (IS 6874, IS 15912, IS 8242 and the National Building Code 2016 Part 6 Section 3B on bamboo).

NBM Guide — Restructured National Bamboo Mission: ₹1,290 Crore Central Sector Scheme, Nursery, Plantation & Post-Harvest Support, and How Farmers, FPOs and MSMEs Apply

The Restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM)is the Government of India's flagship scheme for developing bamboo as a farm and industrial crop on non-forest and private land. It was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 25 April 2018 with an outlay of ₹1,290 crorefor the remaining period of the 14th Finance Commission (2018-19 to 2019-20), and has continued thereafter under the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The mission is a value-chain scheme — from nurseries and plantations at the upstream end to treatment plants, Common Facility Centres, Bamboo Technology Parks and product marketing at the downstream end. For the wider scheme portfolio see our India government schemes for farmers reference.

At a glance

Scheme type: centrally-sponsored scheme of DA&FW, delivered through State Bamboo Missions and State Bamboo Development Agencies.
Approved: 25 April 2018 by CCEA under the restructured form; earlier NBM ran from 2006-07.
Initial outlay: ₹1,290 crore for 2018-19 and 2019-20; continued thereafter under annual budgetary allocations.
Focus shift: from forest-owned bamboo to non-forest and private land bamboo, unlocked by the Indian Forest (Amendment) Act 2017.
Value-chain approach: nurseries → plantations → primary processing → treatment → CFCs → Bamboo Technology Parks → marketing.
Digital / policy backbone: the nbm.nic.in portal for operational guidelines, State Action Plans and beneficiary information.
Convergence: reinforces MIDH, RKVY, PMFME, AIF, MOVCDNER and MGNREGS.

Why bamboo — and why a restructured mission

Bamboo is India's green gold. It sequesters carbon at rates comparable to fast-growing timber species, matures in three to five years, coppices for decades without replanting, tolerates degraded and marginal soils, and yields a stream of products with genuine market pull — construction poles, scaffolding, agarbatti sticks, handicrafts, furniture, panels, pulp, food-grade shoots and, increasingly, bamboo composites and engineered bamboo for green building. India has one of the world's largest bamboo genetic resources, with the North-East alone contributing more than half of the country's bamboo cover, yet for decades bamboo remained under-utilised on private land because the Indian Forest Act 1927 classified it as a tree — every felling and transit needed forest-department permits, which discouraged farmers from planting it. The Indian Forest (Amendment) Act 2017 removed home-grown bamboo (on non-forest land) from the legal definition of tree under Section 2(7), and the restructured NBM in 2018 is the operational scheme that turns that policy reform into farmer-facing plantation and processing support.

Value-chain interventions funded by NBM

Upstream — nurseries and plantations

NBM funds Tissue Culture Units and Certified Big / High-tech / Small nurseries that produce quality planting material — because bamboo grown from unverified seed or rhizome can flower unpredictably and collapse a plantation. On the plantation side, farmers receive assistance for block plantations on private land (typically 50% of the notified unit cost per hectare, staggered over three years to cover establishment, gap-filling and maintenance), and State Bamboo Missions fund larger plantations on non-forest government land — panchayat land, wasteland, canal bunds and roadsides — often in convergence with MGNREGS labour and with plantation on the boundaries of horticulture blocks under MIDH. For agroforestry-first design, see also our soil-health guide — bamboo strips on eroded contours and in shelter belts are one of the most effective on-farm soil-conservation interventions in the semi-arid and hilly agro-climatic zones covered by NMSA and PKVY.

Midstream — primary processing and treatment

Bamboo pole harvested from a plantation is a low-value commodity unless it is treated. Untreated bamboo is prone to attack by starch-feeding beetles and fungi, which cuts its service life in a construction application from decades to a few years. NBM therefore funds primary processing units, boron-borate treatment plants, hot-oil treatment tanks and kilns, splitting and slicing machines, and the Common Facility Centres (CFCs) that let a cluster of small producers share expensive equipment. CFCs are typically anchored on FPOs, cooperatives, SHG federations or district-level artisan associations, and the scheme actively encourages FPO-run CFCs as the preferred delivery model.

Downstream — design, product development, marketing

The downstream leg funds design and skill development (in collaboration with NID, IICD Jaipur and specialised bamboo design agencies), product-development units, retail outlets, e-commerce enablement, market intelligence, exhibitions and buyer-seller meets. It also funds anchor infrastructure — Bamboo Technology Parks, Bamboo Bazaars in identified clusters, and incubation centres for bamboo start-ups routed through State RKVY windows (see our RKVY guide). The intent is to move the smallest artisan out of a raw-pole trade and up the value curve into finished, branded products.

Who is eligible

Individual farmers and homestead growers planting bamboo on their own land under the private-land block plantation component.
Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), cooperatives and SHG federations for plantations, nurseries, CFCs, treatment plants and marketing infrastructure.
MSMEs and start-ups setting up bamboo processing, treatment, product-development or design units — with higher grant support in NER and hill / island states.
State Departments of Agriculture / Horticulture / Forest for non-forest government-land plantations and for anchor infrastructure such as Bamboo Technology Parks.
State Agricultural Universities, ICAR and ICFRE institutes for research grants, tissue-culture facilities and demonstration blocks.

How to apply

Farmers and FPOs: approach the district-level Bamboo Development Officer, or the Agriculture / Horticulture Department, or the State Bamboo Mission Directorate, with a plot map and land record. The block plantation application is a short one-page form annexed to the State Action Plan.
Entrepreneurs and MSMEs:submit a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the specific unit — tissue culture nursery, treatment plant, CFC, product unit — through the State Bamboo Mission, which routes eligible DPRs to the NBM cell in DA&FW for central assistance.
Universities and research institutes:apply for R&D grants and tissue-culture facilities directly to the NBM cell through the State Bamboo Mission — see our universities and research institutes directory for the institutional network involved.
Field extension and training: the nearest Krishi Vigyan Kendraand the State Agricultural University's extension wing conduct farmer training, demonstrations and species-selection advisory.

Priority states and commercial species

The North-East — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura — contributes over half of India's bamboo cover and is the single largest focus of NBM investment. Beyond the NER, priority states include Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat and Rajasthan, based on agro-climatic suitability, existing bamboo cover and industrial demand. Around 20 to 25 species are commercially important, including:

Dendrocalamus strictus — male bamboo, backbone of central Indian dry deciduous forests, widely used for scaffolding and paper pulp.
Bambusa bambos — giant thorny bamboo, dominant in southern India, used for construction and agarbatti sticks.
Bambusa tulda and Bambusa balcooa — mainstays of North-East and eastern India plantations, used for construction, handicrafts and engineered bamboo.
Dendrocalamus stocksii — solid, non-thorny, high-value species for engineered bamboo and furniture in the Western Ghats.
Melocanna baccifera — the muli bamboo of the North-East, associated with the famous Mautam gregarious flowering cycle every ~48 years.
Dendrocalamus hamiltonii — a tall Himalayan / NER species used for construction and shoots.
Ochlandra spp. — the reed bamboos of the Western Ghats, used in mat weaving and traditional handicraft.

Convergence — how NBM stacks with other schemes

MGNREGS: funds nursery-raising and plantation labour on private land under the individual-beneficiary land-development category.
MIDH: supports bamboo where it is treated as a horticulture crop, especially in the North-East.
RKVY: state-specific components can co-fund Bamboo Technology Parks, bamboo start-up incubation and cluster infrastructure.
PMFME: supports micro food processing enterprises for bamboo shoot pickles, canned shoots and shoot-based products in ODOP districts.
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund: 3% interest-subvention loans up to ₹2 crore for treatment plants, CFCs and cold-chain infrastructure.
MOVCDNER: supports organic bamboo shoot value chains in the eight NER states.
PKVY and NMSA: bamboo shelterbelts and contour strips are eligible interventions under sustainable-agriculture components.

Standards and quality references for bamboo construction

IS 6874: Method of tests for round bamboos.
IS 15912: Structural design using bamboo — code of practice.
IS 8242: Method of tests for split bamboos.
National Building Code (NBC) 2016 — Part 6, Section 3B: Bamboo and bamboo products in construction.
Boron-borate treatment norms and product classification are notified through the CBTC and IPIRTI Bengaluru.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Restructured National Bamboo Mission and which ministry runs it?: The Restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM) is a centrally-sponsored scheme of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India. It was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 25 April 2018 with an outlay of ₹1,290 crore for the remaining period of the 14th Finance Commission (2018-19 and 2019-20) and has continued thereafter as the umbrella scheme for bamboo development in India. It is the successor to the earlier National Bamboo Mission (2006-07) and the National Mission on Bamboo Applications, and was restructured to explicitly address bamboo on non-forest and private land — closing the gap between forest-based bamboo policy and the actual demand for bamboo as a farm crop.
Why was NBM 'restructured' in 2018 — what changed on the policy side?: Two policy shifts prompted the restructuring. First, the Indian Forest (Amendment) Act 2017 removed bamboo grown on non-forest land from the legal definition of 'tree' under Section 2(7) of the Indian Forest Act 1927 — home-grown bamboo therefore no longer requires felling and transit permits from state forest departments, unlocking bamboo as a proper farm and homestead crop. Second, an inter-ministerial review found that earlier bamboo schemes had focused disproportionately on forest-owned bamboo and had underserved the value chain — nurseries, plantations on private land, primary processing, treatment, common facility centres and market linkage. The restructured NBM therefore adopts a value-chain approach and channels most of its funding to non-forest land bamboo, private growers, FPOs, SHGs, artisans and MSMEs.
What activities does NBM fund along the bamboo value chain?: NBM funding is organised end-to-end. On the upstream end it supports Tissue Culture Units and Certified Big / High-tech / Small nurseries producing quality planting material; block plantations on farmer land and on non-forest government land; and maintenance grants for plantations across the establishment years. In the midstream it funds primary processing units, bamboo treatment plants (bamboo has to be treated to be durable for construction and handicrafts), Common Facility Centres (CFCs) and product-development units. Downstream it supports design and skill development, retail outlets, e-commerce enablement and marketing — including exhibitions, buyer-seller meets and market intelligence. The mission also underwrites Bamboo Technology Parks and Bamboo Bazaars in identified clusters, and Research & Development grants routed through ICAR, ICFRE and State Agricultural Universities.
How much subsidy can a farmer, FPO or entrepreneur get under NBM?: Under the operational guidelines issued by NBM and the DA&FW, subsidy is delivered against unit cost norms notified for each intervention. For farmer plantations on private land the assistance is typically 50% of the notified unit cost per hectare (₹100 per plant with an average density of 400 plants/ha for block plantations, i.e. up to ₹40,000 per hectare — subject to the latest notified rates), staggered over three years so that maintenance and gap-filling are also covered. Assistance for tissue culture units, nurseries, treatment plants and CFCs is delivered through a matching-grant model where the central share is usually 50-60% of project cost for individual entrepreneurs and MSMEs, with higher grant components for SC / ST / NER / hill / island beneficiaries and for FPOs and SHG-run federations. Bamboo Technology Parks receive block grants for infrastructure creation. Exact rates evolve with each annual Action Plan — the notified unit costs in the latest NBM operational guideline on nbm.nic.in are the authoritative reference.
Which agencies implement NBM on the ground?: The nodal implementing authority at the centre is the National Bamboo Mission cell in DA&FW, supported by the Mission Steering Committee. Each participating state constitutes a State Bamboo Mission and appoints a State Nodal Department — usually the Agriculture or Horticulture Department, or the State Forest Department (for forest-land components) — with a State Bamboo Development Agency (SBDA) or State Mission Directorate that receives central funds and channels them to district and block units. Field-level delivery is through State Agricultural Universities, Krishi Vigyan Kendras (see our KVK directory), ICFRE / ICAR institutes, and empanelled implementing agencies such as forest development corporations, TRIFED, KVIC and specialised bamboo agencies. Farmer proposals typically flow: farmer / FPO → Block/District Bamboo Development Officer → State Bamboo Mission → NBM cell (for release of central assistance).
How does NBM converge with other agri schemes and MGNREGS?: NBM converges with several other schemes to stretch its per-rupee impact. MGNREGS funds bamboo nurseries and plantation labour on private land under its 'Development of land productive on the private land of individual beneficiaries' category — the labour component of a bamboo plantation is often booked to MGNREGS while NBM funds planting material, inputs and maintenance grants. MIDH (see our /midh guide) supports bamboo where it is treated as horticulture, particularly in the North-East. RKVY (see our /rkvy guide) lets states co-fund bamboo infrastructure — Bamboo Technology Parks, incubation centres for bamboo start-ups — through state-specific components. PMFME (see our /pmfme guide) supports micro food processing enterprises for bamboo shoot pickles, canned shoots and shoot-based ready-to-eat products in ODOP clusters. The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (see our /aif guide) provides 3% interest-subvention loans of up to ₹2 crore for treatment plants, CFCs and cold-chain infrastructure. MOVCDNER (see our /movcdner guide) has funded organic bamboo shoot value chains in the North-East.
What are the priority states and species under NBM?: India accounts for a very large share of the world's bamboo genetic resources, with the North-East alone contributing more than half of the country's bamboo cover. NBM identifies the eight North-Eastern states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura), Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat and Rajasthan as priority states based on agro-climatic suitability, existing bamboo cover and demand from the handicraft, agarbatti, construction, furniture and pulp industries. Around 20 to 25 species are commercially important, including Dendrocalamus stocksii, Dendrocalamus strictus (male bamboo — dominant in central Indian dry deciduous forests), Bambusa bambos (giant thorny bamboo — south India), Bambusa tulda and Bambusa balcooa (backbone of North-East and eastern India plantations), Melocanna baccifera (muli bamboo — North-East), Dendrocalamus hamiltonii and Ochlandra species. The NBM operational guidelines list species-wise agro-climatic suitability and planting geometry.
Where can a farmer or FPO apply, and what are the official sources for NBM updates?: Individual farmers and FPOs apply through the State Bamboo Mission or the district-level Bamboo Development Officer / Agriculture / Horticulture Department. For entrepreneurial units — tissue-culture nurseries, treatment plants, CFCs, Bamboo Technology Parks — the route is a Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted through the State Bamboo Mission to the NBM cell in DA&FW. Farmer training and demonstrations are accessible through the nearest Krishi Vigyan Kendra (see our /krishi-vigyan-kendras directory) and State Agricultural University or ICFRE institute (see our /universities-research-institutes directory). The authoritative sources are the National Bamboo Mission portal at nbm.nic.in, the DA&FW operational guidelines on agriwelfare.gov.in, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) at icfre.gov.in, the Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) at cbtc.res.in, and the Bureau of Indian Standards codes for bamboo construction (IS 6874, IS 15912, IS 8242 and the National Building Code 2016 Part 6 Section 3B on bamboo).

Official sources

National Bamboo Mission — nbm.nic.in (operational guidelines, State Action Plans, cost norms).
Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare — agriwelfare.gov.in (NBM circulars, restructured NBM Office Memoranda).
Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education — icfre.gov.in (species research, silviculture guides).
Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre — cbtc.res.in (treatment, processing, product development, market linkage).
Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute (IPIRTI), Bengaluru — bamboo composites, engineered bamboo and product certification.
Bureau of Indian Standards — bis.gov.in (IS 6874, IS 15912, IS 8242, National Building Code 2016 Part 6 Section 3B).

This page is for general guidance. Always confirm the latest operational guidelines, unit cost norms and State Action Plan details with the National Bamboo Mission (nbm.nic.in) and the relevant State Bamboo Mission before submitting a plantation or DPR proposal.