Guwahati, June 25 -- Reported by Roopak Goswami

Guwahati: For decades, the Northeast has sat on one of the world's richest bamboo reserves, yet much of this "green gold" has remained underutilised, with India continuing to import bamboo products despite having abundant resources at home.

That paradox may finally begin to change.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 42.2 million dollar financing facility to build an integrated bamboo economy across six northeastern states-Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, marking one of the biggest multilateral investments in the region's bamboo sector.

The project aims to transform bamboo from a traditional cottage industry into a modern value chain encompassing cult...