Govt to form committee to formulate National Rubber Policy

New Delhi: Department of Commerce, Government of India, has agreed to form a core committee to formulate a National Rubber Policy, a source closer to the development told ETAuto. The move was revealed during a meeting with Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association ( ATMA) and other industry representatives.

The policy is expected to be formulated in line with the existing national auto policy which will envision a long term roadmap and strategy for rubber sector in India.

ETAuto spoke to Rajani Ranjan Rashmi, Additional Secretary, Plantations, and National Steering Committee on Organic Products but he declined to comment on this subject.

A highly placed source in ATMA said: “If the policy comes into force it will help the entire value chain of rubber, vehicle, and tyre industry.”

According to the proposal, the core committee will have representatives from all the stake holders include tyre makers, rubber producers and automobiles manufacturers.

For the past few year India has been consuming more rubbers than it produces. According to Rubber Board figures, the gap between domestic production and consumption widened to 133400 tonnes in the recently concluded year 2013-14. Industry estimates that during the current fiscal year also the production will lag behind consumption by around 100000 tonnes. The biggest share around 65% of the total rubber is consumed by tyre manufacturing industry.