North-Eastern Region to emerge as a hub for rubber production: Piyush Goyal

Mr. Piyush Goyal, Minister for Commerce & Industry, Textiles, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, has predicted that the North-East States will become a hub for rubber production.  The Central Government has plans for establishing rubber plantations on 2,00,000 hectares in the North-East states over a period of 5 years. He made these statements while he was addressing the ‘Destination Tripura – Investment Summit’ via video conference. He said that, as of today, Tripura was the second largest producer of rubber in the country with 30,000 hectares in cultivation. He asked the state government of Tripura to take advantage of this situation and expand on the rubber plantations in the state.

Four major tyre manufacturers, represented by the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), have collectively pledged to contribute Rs. 1,000 crores (US$ 132 million) for the development of 2,00,000 hectares of land in seven states, over a period of 5 years. This was made official with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on 1^st March, 2021 between the Rubber Board and the ATMA. The four tyre companies transferred a sum of Rs. 12 crores (US$1.58 million) on 20^th May, 2021 to the account set up by the Rubber Board. These funds are currently being used to acquire planting materials, and planting will be commenced in 2021 itself.

Another special trait of the North-East, as mentioned by Mr. Goyal, is that Tripura is home to the largest bamboo flooring unit. He envisions Tripura as being the hub of the Agarbatti Industry, and make India self-dependent in bamboo, which is often referred to as the green gold industry.

Following calls by Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India to transform the North-East into the Ashth Lakshmi of India, Mr. Goyal confirmed the Prime Minister has given priority to the ‘Focus North-East’ programme, and the Make in India programme has been modified in the North-East as the ‘Make in North-East’ programme. At the same time, a dedicated North-East desk of Invest India has been set-up, to improve the infrastructure of the region, and promote industry.

Mr. Goyal also commended the development that Tripura has undergone under the strong leadership of Chief Minister Mr. Biplab Kumar Deb. He mentioned that the state government has been working hard to prioritize the 3 ‘N’s’ in administration - namely Niyat, Niti and Niyam. He added that on top of this, Tripura is the 4th most literate state in the North-East, is home to a thriving handloom industry which employs 1.36 weavers, and also exports jackfruit all the way to London.

Mr. Goyal said that through dedicated schemes, the Centre is encouraging usage of agro-textiles and geo-technical textiles in the North-East region. With connectivity improved through air, rail, road and waterways, Tripura is now an integral part of multimodal connectivity, and no longer the isolated state that it was in the past.

He mentions that the cross-border Agartala-Akhaura (Bangladesh) railway project, which is estimated to be worth Rs. 972 crores (US$ 128 million), will help promote exports. This, along with the fact that the Agartala Airport is the 2nd busiest airport in the North-East, will allow Tripura to act as a gateway to the North-East.

He further applauded various initiatives of the state government to promote investment: single window portal called SWAAGAT, capital subsidy of 30%, power subsidy of 50%, full reimbursement of state GST and 4% interest subvention. He called this collectively, “one of the best investment packages in the entire country”. He felt that the Investment Summit would help Tripura realize its true potential. He hoped that the conference would encourage investors to become partners in the developmental journey of the state.

To conclude, he expressed his shock and gave his condolences on the untimely demise of CDS General Mr. Bipin Rawat. Mr. Goyal recalled one of the General’s quotes: “We seek neither gratitude, nor applause; through silence let us make ourselves known, the whole world will come at your feet on their own”.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.