The Indian Rubber Growers Association (IRGA) may boycott domestic Indian tyre manufacturers if tyremakers continue to buy rubber from cheaper, imported sources. The association, which accused the companies of trying to “cash in on the miseries of the rubber farmers,” asked local tyre manufacturers to buy rubber from India at the landed cost of imported rubber, according to Business Standard.Rubbertree
According to the association, the current crisis is due to a drop in rubber prices in the international market.
In addition to its boycott threat, IRGA asked India’s central and state governments to intervene. Sibi J Monippalli, president of IRGA, urged India’s federal government to immediately increase the import duty of rubber to 25% from the current 20%. Monippalli asked the Kerala state government to prop up rubber procurement in order to improve local prices. He also advised the state government to explore the possibility of rubberization of 20% of the roads in Kerala every year.
This news came about at the same time that Kerala’s finance minister K M Mani recommended that the Minister of Commerce ban imports until the price of rubber stabilizes in the local market.