The Hindu Business Line : `Special purpose fund for rubber not feasible'

Having examined the feasibility of a special purpose fund for rubber, the Rubber Board Chairman, Mr Sajen Peter, begs to differ from his counterparts in the tea and coffee sector. Mr Peter said that such a fund would not be feasible for the rubber sector because the potential participants were largely small holders.

According to him, the administrative cost of maintaining the account would be phenomenal as the rubber growers community comprised farmers with small holding.

Reverting to the issue of FDI investment, he said though the Government has decided to allow 100 per cent FDI investment through the automatic approval route in natural rubber processing and warehousing.

The Board has opined that such investments could be tried in non-traditional areas on an experimental basis.

He, however, maintained that large-scale entry of FDI in rubber processing especially in technically specified areas may not be good.

Exports

On exports, he said the outlook was positive.

`Last year, our exports touched 74,000 tonnes, surpassing the 50,000 tonne target. We have already exported around 40,000 tonnes this year and are sure to surpass the target of 50,000 tonnes.'

He says this was because of the margin that existed between the international and domestic price.

When asked if rubber imports would have an adverse effect on the industry, he said `imports would trigger competition.

If the domestic industry is looking for say RSS III and this is available at comparatively cheaper rates elsewhere, they should not hesitate to procure it. On the other hand, we can look at exporting RSS IV,' he said.

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