Additional Secretary in the commerce ministry Amardeep Singh Bhatia has said that the government is not considering any cut in import duty on rubber as of now as the differential between the local and international prices is maintained. He noted that tyre makers are one of the major consumers of the commodity. Over 13 lakh rubber growers are there in the country. Kerala accounts for a major chunk of the production, which was 8.39 lakh tonne in 2022-23. Consumption during that fiscal was 13.5 lakh tonne.
The Secretary further said the gap is bridged by imports from countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and other southeast Asian nations. In order to regulate the import of natural rubber, the government had increased the duty on import of dry rubber to 25 per cent or Rs 30 per kg, whichever is lower from April 30, 2015. The government had also reduced the period of utilization of imported dry rubber under advance licensing scheme from 18 months to 6 months from January 2015. Port entry for import of natural rubber has been restricted to ports at Chennai and Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru Port) since January 2016.
In the Budget 2023-24, the basic customs duty rate on compounded rubber was increased from 10 per cent to 25 per cent or Rs 30/kg whichever is lower', at par with that on natural rubber other than latex, to curb circumvention of duty.
