Rubber industry asks govt to curb cheap imports

Deepak Kumar | The Dollar Business

Concerned over a continuous fall in domestic production and an upsurge in imports, rubber industry has asked the government to take immediate measures to restrict foreign suppliers from dumping their products in the country. “India’s rubber production is not competitive in the world. Inverted duty is also very high. This is discouraging and has a negative impact on the domestic rubber production. So people prefer importing rubber and rubber products from China and sell them in the domestic market. The sector needs government’s support to bring about the revival,” Mohinder Gupta, President of the All India Rubber Industries Association(AIRIA), told The Dollar Business. During the previous fiscal, overall domestic rubber production fell by over 22% to just 6.55 lakh tonnes—worst in 12 years. The country’s total output was about 8.44 lakh tonnes during 2013-14. India’s total rubber production has already fallen by 15% during the first half of this fiscal. Once the world’s third largest rubber producing country, India has now slipped to fifth position with Vietnam and China overtaking it in terms of annual rubber production. India’s domestic rubber production is likely to slip further to sixth position this year as the industry continues to witness price crash and labour crisis. Gupta highlighted the domestic rubber industries’ moribund states and urged the government to establish either a separate rubber board or a branch of the exiting board in northeast region. “Northeastern states hold immense potential. The government should establish a new rubber board to ensure a maximum cultivation of rubber in the region,” Gupta said. Gupta also emphasised the need to establish a separate Rubber Export Promotion Council (Rubexil) as an additional measure to keep a check on India’s rubber imports and exports. “We had requested the government to institute a separate rubber import – export board.  The file has been moving in the ministry from one and half years. We are hoping that it will get approved soon,” Gupta said. Exports of rubber and rubber products have dwindled in the last three fiscals after cloaking a double-digit growth for nearly two decades. In the previous financial year, rubber imports surged to about 4.15 lakh tonnes, up 15% from a year ago. During April - September this year, rubber import remained just over 2.13 lakh tonnes, down from 2.37 lakh tonnes recorded in the corresponding period of 2014-15. In 2014-15, exports of rubber and rubber products increased by just5% to $2.82 billion. Its total export was worth $2.74 billion in 2013-14. “If rate structures for rubber are controlled, our exports can go up by at least 15%,” Gupta said.  

October 14, 2015 | 2:43pm IST.