Mani seeks action against tyre manufacturers

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, NOV. 6. The Revenue Minister, Mr. K. M. Mani, has urged the Centre to take steps to control the tyre manufacturers who are refusing to buy rubber from the market at the minimum price fixed by the Central Government.

The Minister said in a statement here today that the Centre had notified the minimum price under the Rubber Act for rubber grades IV and V at Rs. 32.09 a kg and 30.79 a kg respectively. However, this had not benefited farmers as the Centre had not taken steps to ensure that the tyre manufacturers brought rubber at this price. It also did not start procurement of rubber through the State Trading Corporation.

Mr. Mani said that though the State Government had taken certain measures to solve the difficulties of farmers, those had not yielded the desired results. It reduced the purchase tax on rubber by five per cent, but that did not lead to an increase in price. Though the tyre manufacturers had said that this would lead to increase in price, they did not come forward to purchase rubber from the market. There was no justification for this. Hence, the Central Government should intervene to remedy the situation.

He noted that the prices should have increased by Rs. 1.84 a kg because of the tax concession announced by the State Government. He said that for export of rubber, the Government was now giving a total subsidy of Rs. 3.84 on a kg including the tax concession. The Government had also granted Rs. 5 crores to the Rubber Marketing Federation and the State Warehousing Corporation for procurement of rubber. However, these measures had not shown any results as the industrialists kept away from the market.

In view of this, he and the Agriculture Minister had convened a conference of the tyre manufacturers on October 10. The Government had asked them to buy rubber from the market. However, they declined. After that, he and the UDF convener, Mr. Oommen Chandy, had convened a conference in Kottayam to settle the stir by rubber traders. At the talks, the Rubber Board Chairman had promised that the Board would direct the tyre manufacturers to buy rubber from the market at prices higher than the indicative price. Though the traders withdrew their stir, the manufacturers did buy rubber as directed by the Board.

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Section  : Southern States
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