Today, the Indian rubber industry which has been growing with its original strength and competence has its burgeoning role in the global economy. India has now become the third largest producer and the second largest consumer of natural rubber in the world with a turnover of Rs. 12,000 crores.
The rubber industry plays a vital role in the Indian economy as the rubber plantation sector produces over 930 hundred thousand tons of natural rubber. With a stable annual growth rate of 8-9 per cent, rising foreign exchange reserves, rapid expansion in the capital markets and FDI inflow, India proudly stakes its claim as the second fastest growing economy in the world.
With the domestic prices of natural rubber in India at their lowest in four years, the country increased the import duty by 50 per cent in December 2013. In the last week of February, a senior official on the Rubber Board said, “Till last week, the inward shipments of natural rubber were at 2,90,000 tonnes, and as per our estimates the total imports by the end of 2013-14 fiscal will be around 3,20,000 tonnes.”
The export had also fallen with the production of rubber being inadequate this fiscal. The demand for rubber has also been low because of the sluggish growth rate of the auto industry for the past couple of years. Rubber tapping during June and July last year had to be stopped due to unprecedented rains in Kerala, and resumed only in September.