Comments
The heavy rainfall in the current year is unlikely to hit natural rubber production, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Anupriya Patel, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, said in a written reply: “No sharp fall in natural rubber production is envisaged due to heavy rain this year. However, as a proactive initiative, the Government, through Rubber Board, is promoting rain-guarding in rubber plantations for uninterrupted tapping on rainy days.”
Natural rubber output stood at 7.15 lakh tonnes (lt) in 2020-21 as against 7.12 lt in 2019-20. It was 6.51 lt in 2018-19 and 6.94 lt in 2017-18.
Short-covering lifts spot rubber
Kerala was the major producer of natural rubber, at 5.19 lt in 2020-21 against 5.33 lt in 2019-20. Next is Tripura with 73,780 tonnes (61,950 tonnes), and Karnataka 43,860 tonnes (41,550 tonnes). Assam, Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya are the other major producers of natural rubber in the country.
Patel said the market for natural rubber is expected to grow in the coming years, and estimated consumption at 12.40 lt for 2021-22.
The tyre sector has emerged as the largest consumer of rubber in the country — accounting for 7.80 lt of the 10.96 lt total consumption.
Rubber Board to promote indigenously developed clone in North-East
India imported 4.10 lt of natural rubber in 2020-21 against 4.57 lt in 2019-20. The import is projected at 4.2 lt during 2021-22, she said.
Kisan Rail
In a separate reply, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the House that Indian Railways has operated around 1,642 Kisan Rail services since its launch on August 7, 2020.
Maharashtra was the major beneficiary — with 1,239 of the 1,642 services operated since 2020. Andhra Pradesh follows with 126 services, 56 in Madhya Pradesh, 48 each in Gujarat and Telangana, 45 in Karnataka, 40 in West Bengal and 36 in Uttar Pradesh. While there were two Kisan Rail services in Punjab, one each was operated in the north-eastern states of Assam and Tripura.
Among the railway zones, Central Railway operated the maximum of 771 services, followed by South Central Railway at 514, and Western Railway at 201 services.
The total revenue generated from Kisan Rail services until November 28, 2021, was ₹220 crore.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.