Dr. B.N. Mohanty, Director,
Indian Plywood Industries
Research & Training Institute
(IPIRTI)
54th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of IPIRTI was held on September 28, 2017 in New Delhi. Addressing the audience Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India, Dr. Harsh Vardhan placed before the house the latest development that has taken place in IPIRTI since the last AGM held on 21, April, 2017. He said that the Institute is currently pursuing in all 68 projects of which 39 projects were funded by the Ministry and 15 projects sponsored by Industries and other Government organisations with 14 consultancy projects. While takingup the projects, due emphasis has been given to meet the R&D needs of the Industries develop timber alternatives from plantation wood, Bamboo and other lignocellulosics and optimization of process parameters to minimise the energy consumption and waste reduction.
Some of the products like Particle Board from Tetrapack wastes, preparation of transparent wood are being taken up in the recent times. MDF, LVL & Flooring tiles from plantation timber e.g. Melia Dubia, Eucalyptus, Poplar, Subabul have been developed in IPIRTI. Further, the ministry has successfully forged linkages with progressive farmers of Vishakapatanum, Vijaynagaram Godavari (East & West) and Krishna Districts of Andhra Pradesh for taking up farm forestry with tree species suitable for Panel products. They are also seriously taking up Bamboo development in North Eastern States of the country.
Talking about the research he said that some of the important projects successfully completed during the period. In extension to the work the institute has signed an MOU with Odisha Forest Development Corporation Ltd. (OFDC Ltd.,) for establishment of Primary Processing centre in the state of Odisha for value-added Bamboo products. An MOU has been signed with Institute of Wood Science and Technology (IWST) to leverage the strength and compliment the weaknesses of either institution for a holistic growth of wood and ancillary industry including panel industries. Institute also has signed MOU with the various firms such as Sobha Limited, Bloom Decor Limited, Promat (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Doors And Doors, Hans Enterprise, Mumbai, Shreeji Wood Craft Pvt Ltd, Lucky Ply & Laminates, United Plywood Industries for testing Fire Rated Doors. One more MOU has been signed with Rushil Decor Ltd, Chickmangluru about “Study on Wood availability in Andhra Pradesh.”
Further, they have installed 20 machineries and conducted the demonstration and trial run of the Bamboo processing machines & equipment at Common Facility Centre, Jaduan Nursery, Dist. Hajipur (Bihar) with funding support from ICFRF. Training was provided to officials for making mats and round sticks. During the meeting the Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of State Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Secretary, MoEF&CC Shri Ajay Narayan Thaji, Director General Forests & Special Secretary to Govt. of India, Shri. Siddhanta Dasji, IPIRTI Director Mr. B. N. Mohanty and the distinguished Members of the AGM and special invitees were present.