Personal Details
Founders : Prashant Lingam & Aruna Kappagantula
Tel No : 040 + 2720 7494
94901 20051
Hyderabad
prashant@greenlivelihoods.org
aruna@bamboohouseindia.org
Details of the Enterprise
Green Livelihoods
4-123/C/1, Padmavthi Colony
Behind : Venkateshwara Temple
Uppal, Hyderabad – 500 039
www.greenlivelihoods.org
www.bamboohouseindia.org
www.bamboohouseindia.com
Stage :
Start Up – 2007 November Establsihed
Sector :
Rural and Tribal Livelihoods
(Bamboo Furniture & Bamboo based Rural Housing Structures)
Description of The Enterprise
"Bamboo House India" - Social Enterprise working on “GREEN” and “LIVELIHOOD”
initiative with an aim of utilising bamboo as an economic driver for providing sustainable
livelihood opportunities to rural & tribal population in the country through market
linkages and at the same time promotes bamboo as an eco-friendly substitute to wood,
steel, iron & plastic.
Purpose is to create a long term sustainable non -migratory business model for rural and
tribal artisans in the Bamboo sector by using locally available raw material i.e. bamboo
Market potential of Bamboo based products is estimated to be Rs.26, 000/- Crores by the
year 2015 and if tapped properly can help more than 5 million of our population cross the
poverty line and Bamboo also helps environmental cause as bamboo minimizes CO2
gases and generates up to 35% more oxygen then equivalent stand of trees.
Overview of Products & Services
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Bamboo Furniture
Bamboo Housing Structures
Bamboo Bus Shelters
Bamboo Green Houses
Bamboo Tree Guards
Bamboo Plantations
Training & Consultancy
Key People Involved
Promoters
Aruna Kappagantula (31 F) – Founder – Post Graduate in Science - Nagpur University
with over 5 years of teaching experience and two years of grass root experience in
working with rural & tribal communities in North-east and Andhra Pradesh
Prashant Lingam (33 M) – Founder – Post Graduate in Management – Osmania
University with over 8 years of experience in marketing and two years of grass root
experience in working with rural & tribal communities in North-east and Andhra Pradesh.
Advisory Council
Mr.Srinivas Murthy – Consultant – CII – Chief Architect of CII’s bamboo livelihoods
initiative in the country
Dr.Sudhakar – Faculty – IIT (Delhi) - Innovator of Load Bearing Bow Beam Technology
for Bamboo Housing Structures
Mr.Manu Mayank – Ex CEO – CIBART - Program Development Strategist in the field
of Livelihoods, Economic Development, and Social Enterprise Development
Mr.Ramesh Kalaghatgi – Addl. PCCF – AP Forest Department – Key person Involved in
implementing World Bank Bamboo Project in AP
The following key people will be joining the team:
Mr.Nripal Adikary – Consultant – INBAR ( Bamboo Housing Structures)
Mr.Supratic Gupta – IIT (Delhi) – Civil Engg. Dept ( Bamboo Housing Structures)
We have not yet identified senior marketing team, once the process starts we will be
building up the marketing team.
Market Analysis
Bamboo industry till date does not have organized business model and most of the bamboo
craft is struck in tribal areas in the country and tribes working on the craft do not have access
to organized market segments.
A table of the present and projected market size of bamboo as compiled by
National Planning Commission is reproduced below.
Product /
Application
Current market
(Rs. in crore)
Expected market (Rs.
in crore) by 2015
Bamboo shoot
4.8 (2001)
300
Bamboo as wood
substitute
10,000 (import
value)
30,000
Bamboo ply board
1,200
3,908
Bamboo flooring
200(both domestic
and export)
1,950
Bamboo pulp
100
2,088
Bamboo furniture
380
3,625
Scaffolding
-
861
Housing
-
1,163
Roads
-
274
Bamboo grids
-
1,000
Tiny and cottage
industry
394
1200
Total
12,274.8
45,409
Building and
construction
material
Market Analysis:
Bamboo Furniture & Other bamboo based products
Gaps
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As per rough industry estimates
Rs.5, 000 /- crores has been spent
on bamboo industry till date, but
industry still continues to suffer
from growth.
Bamboo artisans have always
suffered from round the year
employment opportunities as they
do not have access to organized
markets owing to geographical,
logistical and production constraints
and the fact that most of the well
trained
bamboo
artisan
communities are located in north
east and are cut off from the rest of
the country.
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Neither do customers know much
about bamboo based products nor
are bamboo products available
across the shelf, customers only get
to see bamboo products in
government sponsored exhibitions,
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Government investment on the
community with whom we are
working has been to the tune of
Rs.5 crores but all the members
continue to remain unemployed,
unable to sell their products.
Opportunities

Customers are turning towards
interest in eco-friendly products,
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Government is trying hard to find a
solution for timber so that forest
cover is protected.
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National Bamboo Mission (NBM)
has earmarked Rs 2,600 crore in the
10th Five-Year Plan for spreading
bamboo awareness.
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National Mission on Bamboo
Applications (NMBA) has been set
up with a budget outlay of 100
crores in 2004 where core aim is to
promote bamboo based products.
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This kind of a initiative has never
been taken in the country and is
unique in it’s own way as the
strategy is to promote bamboo
based products through a chain of
showrooms in PPP model by
leveraging
convergence
of
government & industry schemes
and clubbing it with private
investment for overall growth and
development of the artisans and the
bamboo sector.
Market Analysis: Bamboo Housing Structures:
Commercialization of IIT (Delhi’s) Innovative Bow Beam Technology for Bamboo
Housing Structures as an eco friendly, cost effective solution for Rural Housing
Problem
Gaps
Opportunities

Addressing rural housing shortage
is an important strategy of poverty
alleviation and bamboo structures
can come handy.
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Bamboo based housing can cater to
different economic class of people,
need is to make it in knocked down
format.
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2001 Census places rural housing
shortage figure in India at 148
lakhs.
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Bharat Nirman programme has
recognized and accorded due
priority and envisaged to construct
60 Lakhs houses over the next 4
years starting 2005-06.
IIT (D) has worked on the technical
aspect of the housing structure,
roofing element can take around 1
tonne load, need is to develop
proper joinery techniques.
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If proper joinery techniques are
developed cost per sft would work
out to around Rs. 300-400 and can
be best used for rural housing.
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There is a very high demand from
eco-tourism centers, resorts, pent
houses, hotels, coffee shops etc for
bamboo based structures owing to
its aesthetic appeal.
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Tapping into the housing structures
segment can help the artisan in
augmenting their income levels and
at the same time assist in
commercializing an innovative
technology and provide alternate
housing solutions in the country.
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Technology in innovative and has
not been commercialized yet.
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Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
scope exists for construction of
school buildings as the scheme
encourages low cost housing
bamboo is not yet used for the
same.
No scientific Bamboo based
construction technique exists to tap
the market.
Current Status of the Enterprise
Enterprise is in unstructured Revenue and Pre Profit stage
Evolution of the enterprise was purely by chance, need for having home based furniture led
to the he evolution of the enterprise. Venture was not strategically planned. Last one and half
years has been spent in studying the extremely complex bamboo scenario in the country
Personal finances are being used to support the activities; Investment in the enterprise till
date has been to the tune of Rs.5 Lakhs and revenue generation has been to the tune of Rs.1
Lakh. Funding support till date has been to the tune of Rs.4 Lakhs,
Goals for the next 3 years
Adopt tribal community in western Tripura who are trained by NID to manufacture bamboo
furniture and train the same community with the help of IIT (Delhi) in producing knocked
down bamboo based housing structures.
Create a chain of 3 -5 exclusive bamboo showrooms across the country where in, eco
friendly bamboo furniture & housing structures would be sold thereby giving round the year
employment opportunities to rural and tribal artisans. First such exclusive bamboo
showroom has already been set up in Hyderabad.
Entire chain of bamboo showrooms would be supported by National Mission on Bamboo
Applications (NMBA) & National Bamboo Mission.
Supported & Funded by :
Green Livelihoods is supported in it’s initiative by:
1. National Mission on Bamboo Application (NMBA)
2. Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
3. Andhra Pradesh Bamboo Mission (APBM)
4. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT – Delhi)
5. Andhra Pradesh Forest Department (APFD)
6. Tripura Bamboo Mission (TBM)
7. Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services ( IL & FS)
8. Andhra Pradesh Technology Promotion & Development Centre (APTDC)
Partnerships under process:
1. Indian Institute of Guwahati – (IIT – G)
2. National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD)
3. National Bamboo Mission (NBM)
Green & Livelihoods Initiatives:
Green Furniture for climate protection:
Using bamboo to tap the growing retail boom with a purpose of
providing round the year employment opportunities to rural and
tribal population of the country and protecting the climate by
setting up chain of exclusive green (bamboo) showrooms.
Green Housing Structures for environmental protection :
 Addressing rural housing shortage is an important strategy of poverty
alleviation and bamboo structures can come handy. Bamboo can come
as a handy tool for solving environmental issue also
 2001 Census places rural housing shortage figure in India at 148
lakhs.
Partnered with IIT (Delhi) and constructed exclusive bamboo showroom in
Hyderabad using load bearing Bow Beam Technology, it was IIT’s first post
experimental venture in the country. The bamboo housing structure can take
approximately one tonne load on the roof; the pillars also were made of
green material. Perfect cost effective solution for rural housing, where
estimated cost per sft would be around Rs.175/-
Green Showrooms:
As a social enterprise we always believed that the best way to
convince public to go green is to introduce eco friendly products in
aesthetic form in an affordable way and provide round the year
employment opportunities to the artisans.
As part of our initiative we have built exclusive green showrooms
across the country and the first one having come up in Hyderabad
where the entire showroom was built using natural building
materials like thatch, bamboo, palm leaves, cow dung and mud.
Criteria were to educate public about usage of natural building
materials for construction purpose.
We are in the process of extending the showroom chain across the
country where green products would be promoted and marketed
and all these showrooms would be converted in information
centers where public would be provided green information.
Bamboo Plantations;
Bamboo minimizes CO2 gases and generates up to 35% more oxygen then equivalent
stand of trees.
1 hectare of bamboo sequesters 62 tons of CO2/year
1 hectare of young forest sequesters 15 tons of CO2/year
How it works
Bamboo removes CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis by using carbon as
an energy source and converting it into plant tissue which releases oxygen (O2) as a byproduct
Bamboo…
• helps retain water in the watershed
• can be harvested annually
• needs no replanting after harvesting
• is an effective erosion control plant and natural control barrier due to its
widespread root system and large canopy
• reduces runoff, prevents massive soil erosion
• sustains riverbanks
• protects surrounding environment during typhoons due to its height
regenerates and is resilient even after strong typhoons
• helps mitigate water pollution due to its high nitrogen consumption
• requires little attention during its growing/production cycle
• is well suited for agro forestry and healthy ecosystems
• requires only a modest capital investment to generate a steady income
Green Bus Shelters:
Initiating activity to produce bamboo based bus shelters with
artisan community involvement.
Verbal Proposal has been sent to Municipal Corporation & state
road transport and once detailed technical designs along with test
reports are given to them we expect to see a beginning for green
bus shelters instead of iron and plastic.
Other Green Products & Projects:
Engineered Bamboo Houses – Green Housing