Guwahati: Coir Board on 16th December inaugurated the North East Coir Expo at Shri Madhavdeva International Auditorium, Kalakshetra along with the Hon'ble Chief Guests, Mr. Chandramohan Patowary, Hon'ble Minister for Transport, Industries, and Commerce, Skill Development, Welfare of Minorities, Assam, Shri Triranga Bharatiya Borah, Director of Horticulture & F.P and D. Kuppuramu Chairman, Coir Board (MSME).

Coir Board was set up under the Coir Industry Act, 1953 by the Government of India for the overall sustainable development of coir industry in the Country. It is estimated that around 80% of the workforce in the industry plays a vital role in rural women empowerment of many coastal districts of the country are women and it. 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 "Coir pith" used to save water "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 Geotextiles for preventing soil erosion, conversion 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.

Coir Board's presence in NE States

Coir Board has a Sub Regional Office at Guwahati and 3 Showrooms in NE viz Gangtok, Tripura, and Guwahati Coir Board has been implementing the schemes and services through these offices and popularizing coir products in NE states. A lot of training programmes and Entrepreneurship Development Programmes are conducted through these offices for the overall development of the NE States The coir industry is concentrated in Nalbari, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Tinsukia, Baksa, and Biswanath districts of Assam and also in the State of Tripura in the NE Region.

The total coconut production in the NE Region is 187.77 million nuts per annum A total of 56 cont units registered in the NE Region.

Special Focus on Assam

As Assam is the centre point in NE states, Coir Board has given special focus in this state A Sub Regional Office and Showroom are functioning in Guwahati All schemes, training programmes, welfare measures, etc has been done through SRO, Guwahati, and popularisation of Coir Products through Showroom and Sales Depot, Guwahati The total coconut production in the state of Assam is 159 87 million nuts per annum The coir products in the state of Assam ranges from coir yarn to various types of coir mats, Coir Pith, Coir handicrafts, coir toys, and rubberized coir mattresses.

As per the vision of Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modiji and as per the directives of Hon'ble Minister for MSME, Shri Narayan Tatu Raneji and Hon'ble Minister of State for MSME Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Vermaji Coir Board decided to develop coir industry in the non-conventional areas especially in the NE Region and thereby generating more employment opportunities. MSMEs play a vital role in generating employment opportunities and contribute a lot to the socio-economic development of the country. Coir industry is opening up new avenues in the application of its products and is moving to Pan India with the popularization of the schemes and services available, thereby providing employment opportunities and also the products and their applications.