According to M. Vasanthagesan, executive director of the Rubber Board of India (RBI), Nagaland presently produces about 20,000 metric tons of rubber yearly. However, a significant number of rubber trees are still untapped, which is essential for raising output levels. When board members and representatives of the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA) visited a rubber nursery plantation run by Toka Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Ltd. on Friday in Vihokhu village, Niuland, Vasanthagesan made this statement. According to him, some 1.2 lakh hectares of rubber plantations have already been constructed since the Northeast’s 2 lakh hectare initiative was introduced in 2021.
He gave stakeholders the assurance that there will be a market for each kilogram of rubber produced domestically, especially in the tire sector. JK Tyre & Industries Ltd.’s Senior Vice President (Materials), Ashish Pandey, described the initiative as a special partnership. He mentioned that the present demand for rubber in India is about 14.5 lakh metric tons per year, although the country’s supply was only about 8.5 lakh metric tons, meaning that more than 5 lakh metric tons of imports were needed. As a result, he asked the concerned parties to give this gap top priority in order to meet India’s rising demand for rubber.
When asked about the possibility of setting up facilities in Nagaland to manufacture rubber, Pandey replied that any major project starts with basic measures like making sure raw materials are available. Aiming to extend rubber plantations over 2 lakh hectares in the Northeast, excluding Sikkim, the visit was a part of a larger project. Two important topics were covered by the team during their earlier meetings with the Chief Secretary, Commissioner, Secretary, advisors for Land Resources Development, Industry, and Commerce. These topics were the creation of new rubber regions and methods for making the most use of the mature rubber trees that are now in place.
