Agartala, Mar 12 (IANS): Indian rubber prices have consistently hovered above international market prices for more than the last 10 years while natural rubber production increased by around 2 per cent in the last one year, Rubber Board officials said here on Tuesday.

A senior Rubber Board official said that 11.2 per cent less natural rubber was imported by India this year. He said that India’s rubber production during the current fiscal surpassed the previous year’s production in the April-January period.

During April-January 2022-23, rubber production in the country was 7,25,000 metric tons and it increased to 7,39,000 metric tonnes during 2023-24.

Rubber consumption during April-January 2023-24 increased 5.4 per cent and touched 11,7900 metric tonnes.

The official said that India imported 4,10,770 metric tonnes of rubber from April to January 2023-24, which is 11.2 per cent lower than last year.

Due to unattractive relative prices, India’s rubber exports were negligible for the last few years.

A Rubber Board statement said that after a long stint, Indian sheet rubber prices softened and moved below Bangkok prices during January 2024.

The prevailing supply shortages were due to wintering in Southeast Asian countries and unfavourable weather conditions in the November-December period.

The statement said that to explore the market opportunity, the Executive Director of the Rubber Board M. Vasanthagesan would hold a meeting of rubber exporters and Rubber Board companies at the Board head office in Kottayam (Kerala) on March 15, on hybrid mode.

The meeting will take stock of the current market situation and will explore export opportunities, especially different grades of sheet rubber.

According to the statement, for the export of sheet rubber, the government is extending an incentive of 1.40 per cent of Free On Board value under ‘the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products Scheme.

The Rubber Board is promoting Indian rubber under the brand ‘Indian Natural Rubber’.

It is a first-of-its-kind initiative by any rubber-producing country to certify the quality of the sheet rubber exported, the statement added.

The seventh edition of India Rubber Meet (IRM 2024) was held in Guwahati last month.

After the two-day meeting, Rubber Board officials said that 70,000 hectares of land, the highest in three years, have been brought under rubber plantation under the Indian Natural Rubber Operations for Assisted Development (INROAD) project in three years in 93 districts in the northeastern states.

The manufacturing industry has committed to invest Rs 1,000 crore towards a new plantation of two lakh hectares and another Rs 100 crore would be spent to improve the quality of Natural Rubber through best practices, skilling, and training.

Of the two lakh hectares of new Natural Rubber plantations under the INROAD project, the target for Assam is one lakh hectares followed by Tripura at 30,000 hectares.

Currently cultivating natural rubber on 97,171.93 hectares of land, Tripura is the second largest Natural Rubber producing state in the country after Kerala annually producing 1,02,989 tonnes of rubber, worth Rs 1620 crore.