Rubber growers are contemplating boycotting products of domestic tyre companies and instead go for import tyres in a tit-for-tat.
A move in this direction is being planned in the wake of continuous fall in prices and the industry ignoring growers’ call to purchase rubber from the domestic market, Sibi J.Monippally, President of the Indian Rubber Growers Association (IRGA), said.
Riding on cheap rubber imports, all tyre companies have been generating profits in each quarter. It is time that these companies introspect and come forward to support the growers by buying from the domestic market at the landed cost of imported rubber, he added.
Quoting the bill of entry of imports, he pointed out that the landed cost of imported rubber is in the range of ₹135/140 per kg whereas the domestic prices are only at ₹115.
At a time when the international prices were higher than the domestic prices, growers agreed to lower the import duty to help the industry to sustain and thrive. Today, the growing community is getting completely disillusioned by price decline and are even thinking of stopping production or moving out of the rubber value chain, he said.
The price fall, he said, may also affect the Centre’s plan to extend rubber cultivation for the development of several Naxal affected areas.
The growers association comprising UPASI, APK, IRGA etc have filed a petition under the Provisions of Safeguard before the Directorate of Safeguards, New Delhi to protect the domestic rubber growers from un-controlled and unrestricted imports, which is hitting hard the domestic growing sector.
The association urged the government to immediately increase the import duty to 25 per cent. The Kerala Government should also facilitate more uptake of rubber from the State to improve prices by way of tax concessions and explore the possibility of rubberisation of 20 per cent of roads every year.
– THe Hindu
