India’s First Rubber Centre to Come Up at RRII, Kottayam

A model Rubber Centre, the first of its kind in India is to be set up at the Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII), Kottayam in Kerala, the home of Indian natural rubber under the joint auspices of the Rubber Board and Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC), to promote rubber products sector in the country.

Inaugurating the National Rubber Conference (2017 Rubcon) themed Rubber Products Manufacturing: Synergising Competencies at the RRII premises recently, KSIDC Chairman, Christy Fernandez has said that the corporation would support the Rubber Board in setting up the centre which he hoped would go a long way in promoting rubber

industrial sector in the country. He said that the centre is proposed to come up in 5000 sqft space initially and KSIDC is willing to share the capital requirement of the centre.

“Prosperity has been the biggest enemy of rubber sector in India as everyone thought that no special attention is required to develop this segment. But this has been proved wrong. Now no one, neither commerce ministry nor the agriculture is ready to take the ownership of rubber sector. Hence, it is time for innovation and inter-disciplinary approach in all

spheres including research and development, technology,design, commercialisation and marketing. Such an approach is essential to synergise competencies in a globalised world and to survive amid challenges,” Christy Fernandez said.

While drawing a road-map for the future of the sector, he said that the sector should identify the core competencies and should absorb competencies around to succeed.

“Volatility is the hallmark of rubber and it would continue. We have to invent our own systems to overcome the challenges. A definite ownership of the rubber sector in national, regional and provincial level is essential for confronting the issues the sector face,” he observed.

Rubber Board Chairman and Executive Director A Ajith Kumar IAS said that a close association among academic, research institutions and industry is the need of the hour if we want to successfully transform technological advancements into commercially viable and innovative solutions.

“There is vast potential for the rubber industry to grow in terms of value addition, employment generation, technology upgradation, quality enhancement and export. Domestic and global economic and industrial sectors are facing growing number of uncertainties. They are ranging from fiscal,monetary, economic, geopolitical to sector- specific. Sustainability in such an environment depends solely on global competitiveness.

Hence, the major focus of rubber products manufacturing sector shall be to enhance quality and cost competitiveness through adoption of appropriate technology and constant innovation. Technology and innovation are the major ingredients of strategies to confront all the challenges the industry face,” Ajith Kumar said.

RRII Director Dr James Jacob said that the national seminar is a first step for a new beginning to promote the rubber manufacturing sector in India. RRII Joint Director Dr Siby Varghese also spoke. Seven technical session were held as part of the conference. The event saw participation of over 200 delegates.