Prashant Lingam and Aruna Kappagantula Bamboo House India was started in Hyderabad in 2007 by Aruna Kappagantula and

her husband Prashant Lingam with the aim of promoting bamboo as an eco-friendly substitute to wood, steel, iron and plastic and also utilizing bamboo as an economic driver for providing sustainable livelihood opportunities to rural and tribal population in the country, through market linkages. The business model focuses on triple bottom lines i.e. environmental, social & financial aspects .Criteria is to provide market for artisan products and make Bamboo available to the customers and tries to solve the major problem of the Bamboo industry i.e. poor market linkages. Bamboo House India works through a hybrid model, a for-profit component and a non-profit component. Bamboo House India is operating on a business model of creating a chain of bamboo showrooms across the country that promote and market all bamboo based products under one roof. But the couple had to face some hurdles, during the initial stages. Initially, our family members were reluctant and sceptical about the success rate of an unexplored initiative like ours. Today, many organizations like the National Mission on Bamboo Application (NMBA), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Andhra Pradesh Bamboo Mission (APBM), etc. support the activities of Bamboo House India. They are happy about the fact that their initiative is gaining wider acceptance and several consumers are now going for bamboo products than the conventional timber or plastic ones. They went into this business accidently when they could not find suitable bamboo products. The search led them to read about Katlamara, a non-descript village in Tripura, adjoining the Indo-Bangladesh border. Katlamara was home to a tribal, Bengali-speaking community that produced the best bamboo species in the worldThrystostachys Oleverii, or Kanakais, as the locals calls itand did the most wonderful things with it. Oleverii offers range (a diameter of 15-55 mm at the base), height (60-80 feet), growth (it hits full height in five years) and flexibility. It is ideal to make bamboo handicrafts, furniture, even composite structures for rural houses. Yet, both the species and its artisans were dying, due to the fallout of a government law. The Indian Forest Act of 1927 classifies bamboo as a tree, not grass. That ruling places several restrictions on its harvest, transit and trade. In north-eastern states, for instance, only tribals can harvest bamboo. This bottled up supply. As a result, even demand did not flourish. They went after the supply side first. Bamboo was on the concurrent list, which meant that states, not the Centre, had the final say on it. Tripura not only allowed tribal to harvest bamboo, it also allowed private cultivation. The duo felt they could handle the cultivation and marketing sides. They needed the Katlamara artisans to take care of the creative and craft aspects. The duo began making regular visits to insurgency-prone Katlamaraa two-hour journey from Agartala, a military convoy in towto convince artisans to return to their roots. Kappagantulas Bangla broke the ice with the artisans. As did the financial package and creative freedom they offered. The duo said they would pay Rs 20,000-30,000 a month to the

seven main artisans, for six months, with no delivery commitments. Further, they promised to buy whatever the artisans produced and at their price. The community formed an NGO, Bamboo Enterprise United, and Bamboo House started dealing with them. In the beginning, they had to get rid of Rs 25,000 worth of furniture because it had developed cracks, but they didnt harry the artisans. Even when sales werent happening, they paid salariesRs 350 per day to daily wagers and Rs 8,000 per month to permanent employees. It further cemented the relationship. Simultaneously, they started working on the demand side. They held exhibitions. They researched design sensibilities of Indians. They scaled down pricing. They launched a website that gave information on bamboo applications and displayed artefacts (bamboohouseindia.org). The idea was to provide information rather than generate sales, says 31-year-old Kappagantula, who traded her plans to do research in zoology to engage with bamboo. The public interest exceeded their expectations. About 180 people wanted to open a showroom in their cities right away, says Lingam. In January 2008, they opened the first showroom of Bamboo Housein their house in Hyderabad. It is, today, a storehouse of bamboo artifacts, handicrafts and building material, displayed aesthetically. The second showroom opened recently in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad. Today, Bamboo House is a scalable business that can produce 150 pieces of furniture a day. And it enjoys the confidence of the Katlamara community. Even though it puts a markup of 30% on sales to dealers and 50% on retail sales, break even is years away