The Hindu Business Line reports, “The Indian Rubber Growers Association has asked the center to suspend rubber imports, considering the fall in prices. When the prices fell in 1999, the government had stopped imports under advance licence scheme through a notification.
A similar situation has arisen now and the government should act accordingly until the prices improve, Sibi J. Monippally, president of the association, said. In a memorandum submitted to the Commerce Ministry, he urged the government to increase the import duty of rubber to 40 percent beyond the domestic requirement and restrict the imports to end users only.
He pointed out that in 2013-14, imports were to the tune of 3 lakh metric tons against 2.14 lakh metric tons the previous year. Production and consumption of rubber is almost balanced with output at 9.3 lakh metric tons and consumption at 10 lakh metric tons. The requirement by 2020 will be 15 lakh metric tons. To attain this goal, he suggested sustainable development of production with the support of farmers.”