Navsari, February 25 – A young tribal entrepreneur from Navsari in Gujarat has established a successful bamboo product enterprise with support from the Gujarat government's Student Startup and Innovation Policy (SSIP).
The venture, which manufactures over 120 items from bamboo, reflects a growing trend of student-led innovation in rural parts of the state.
Yogesh Yadav, who grew up in a village, founded the startup, named 'House of Shitij', after completing training in bamboo work during a third-year course at the College of Forestry, Navsari Agricultural University.
With his partners, Om and Preya, he turned his interest in bamboo into a business focused on producing natural, durable, and environmentally sustainable alternatives to plastic and ceramic products.
"During my third year, there was a course called ELP, in which we worked extensively on bamboo. And through that work, I thought of proceeding further," Yadav said, explaining the genesis of his enterprise.
He added that the startup's products were intended to reduce reliance on plastics and ceramics in households.
Yadav also said that a key objective of the enterprise was to promote products made by the tribal community through eco-friendly means.
The venture received financial backing under the SSIP scheme, a state government initiative designed to encourage student entrepreneurship by offering funding, mentorship, and access to incubation resources.
SSIP 2.0, launched in January 2022 and running until March 2027, seeks to foster a culture of innovation from the school level through higher education by providing grants for proof-of-concept and prototype development, as well as support for intellectual property registration and industry linkages.
The initiative has been credited with helping students turn ideas into viable enterprises and has supported thousands of student startups and innovations across the state.
Observers say the rise of entrepreneurs such as Yadav aligns with national goals of self-reliance and economic development.
His experience has been cited as an example of how government schemes can enable young innovators to contribute to broader development objectives, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a self-reliant India.