Rubber growers are contemplating to boycott products of domestic tyre companies and instead go for cheaper import tyres, the same way by which the industry imports raw materials.
A move in this direction is being planned in the wake of continuous fall in prices and growers, therefore, urged the industry 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 came forward to support 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 ruling at ₹115.
At a time when the international prices were higher than 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, he said, fall 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.