The Rubber Board of India, based in Kerala, will soon be starting electronic trading through a digital trade platform for natural rubber (NR). It is expected to provide greater visibility to buyers/sellers and complement the existing system of dealer-processor- manufacturer based supply chain within the NR market. Additionally, the digital platform would also function as an alternate marketing channel for physical transactions in NR.
The NR market ecosystem in India, especially the non-tyre sector, is rife with challenges including the availability of good quality rubber and consumer demand. The Rubber Board’s initiative comes at a good time: it is in line with the government’s policy to initiate e-trading for all agricultural commodities and encourage participation from small-scale grower collectives such as the Rubber Producers’ Society (RPS), cooperatives, Rubber Board-sponsored companies and rubber dealers who only operate at village level.
In short, the digital trading platform is a trade facilitation platform where buyer and seller can bid for required quantities of rubber; the trade will close after a price is agreed upon. Private, digitally-signed contracts will then be generated and provision(s) for payment gateway made available for transfer of money. Personalised trade pages for manufacturers and system quality certifications will also be set up as an added feature to the platform.
Those who seek to use the e-trade platform for NR to start a joint venture project with the Rubber Board have been requested to provide relevant expressions of interest (EOI) through the Rubber Board’s website or the Central Public Procurement Portal.