Import Duty On Rubber Likely To Be Raised To 25 Percent: Sitharaman

Government plans to hike import duty on rubber to 25 per cent while a slew of other steps are under way to protect the interest of rubber growers, hit hard by declining prices, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today.

A methodology was also being evolved to monitor the usage of imported rubber to push domestic demand while an expert committee was examining the concerned issues in-depth, she said in Rajya Sabha in response to a calling attention motion on the plight of rubber farmers.

A proposal to enhance "the existing import duty on dry forms of natural rubber from the existing 20 per cent or Rs 30 per kg to bound-level duty of 25 per cent, has been forwarded with my recommendation to the Ministry of Finance and is under consideration," Sitharaman said.

These measures, she said, would regulate imports and "may have a salutary effect on domestic prices", as she promised enhanced subsidy of Rs 35,000 per hectare, up from existing Rs 25,000, to the growers by the Rubber Board.

"The concern among rubber growers caused by the downward movement in domestic prices of rubber has been noted. ... The government has reduced the period of utilisation under advanced licensing scheme for import of rubber from 18 months to six months," Sitharaman said.

While motivating the rubber consumers to exhaust stocks and push up demand, the government was also working to evolve methods to monitor usage of rubber imported under advance license to ensure that existing stocks are consumed, she said.

Sitharaman said the fall in rubber prices to Rs 118 in November last from Rs 176 in 2012-13 was due to "slump in international consumption" and the resultant decline in global prices. This was aggravated by a relatively low growth in domestic demand for specific forms of natural rubber.

To boost the segment, she said, the government intended to expand production as a long-term strategy and was promoting plantation development programmes in non-traditional regions like the North East.

"Currently, rubber is produced in 7.57 lakh hectares in the country", she said adding, "During the 12th Plan, an area of 36,300 hectares is proposed to be covered under fresh rubber plantation for which an outlay of Rs 726.99 crore has been provided."

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com