At a glance
India’s rubber belt, in four facts
Top State
Kerala grows about 90% of India’s rubber.
Global Rank
A producer, but not in the world’s top three.
Regulator
Rubber Board, Kottayam, set up in 1947.
2025 Price
A 13-year high, near ₹200 per kg.
On this page
Why one state grows nearly all of it
Kerala’s near-total hold on rubber
Rubber grows in 16 Indian states. But Kerala alone supplies about 90% of India’s natural rubber, and holds about 88% of the area planted under rubber.
- Kerala’s hilly, high-rainfall terrain suits the rubber tree well.
- More than 80% of Kerala’s rubber area sits on small landholdings, not big estates.
- That makes rubber, for many Kerala families, a smallholder crop — much like tea is for many small growers in Assam.
Remember: Kerala’s share of rubber output and its share of rubber land are close but not identical — 90% of output, about 88% of area.
Q1. True or False: Kerala accounts for roughly 90% of India’s natural rubber output.
How much India actually grows
Output, and who buys most of it
In 2020-21, India had about 6.93 lakh hectares under rubber, producing nearly 7.15 lakh tonnes. By 2024, calendar-year output was about 857,000 tonnes.
Who uses most of that rubber?
The automotive tyre and tube industry is India’s single largest buyer of natural rubber. Tyres alone use about 75% of all the natural rubber India consumes.
Where India stands among the world’s growers
A major producer, not a top-three one
Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam together supply well over half the world’s natural rubber. India is a significant producer, but it does not rank among that top three.
Who regulates India’s rubber sector
The Rubber Board’s role
The Rubber Board oversees India’s rubber sector. It was set up in 1947 under the Rubber Act, and is headquartered in Kottayam, Kerala.
- It works under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, not Agriculture.
- It supports research, training, marketing, and labour welfare for the sector.
Q2. True or False: The Rubber Board is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram.
Why growing a lot isn’t the same as growing enough
A producer that still depends on imports
Growing a lot does not mean India has enough. India’s own use has stayed ahead of its output, year after year. That makes India a steady net importer of natural rubber.
Worked example: the Rubber Board projected 2024-25 production at about 8.75 lakh tonnes, against consumption of about 14.25 lakh tonnes. The gap, roughly 5.5 lakh tonnes, has to come from somewhere else — imports fill it.
Spreading the risk beyond Kerala
Project INROAD
Project INROAD is a Rubber Board plan, run with the tyre makers’ group ATMA. It aims to plant 2 lakh hectares of rubber across the North-East. The goal: stop relying on Kerala alone for almost all of India’s rubber.
- By January 2025, the drive had planted 1.25 lakh hectares.
- Planting rubber in more states also spreads the risk. One bad weather year or disease outbreak in Kerala then hurts the country less.
What’s squeezing Kerala’s rubber belt now
The 2024-25 production gap
For 2024-25, the Rubber Board projected production of about 8.75 lakh tonnes against consumption of about 14.25 lakh tonnes. That gap, roughly 5.5 lakh tonnes, is filled by imports. Around 40% of India’s rubber consumption is import-dependent.
Why growers and tyre makers are on opposite sides
- Growers want a higher import duty on rubber. That protects the price they get at the farm gate.
- Tyre makers, grouped under ATMA, want the opposite: a lower duty on rubber imports, and a higher duty on finished tyre imports.
- Natural rubber has no central MSP. Kerala’s own state government raised its support price to about ₹200 per kg through 2024-2025, and gave growers a ₹24.48 crore bonus.
Weather and disease add to the squeeze
- Rubber trees need about 120 tappable days a year. Uneven 2025 monsoon rain broke up tapping schedules across Kerala.
- Disease is also rising: brown bast, leaf spot, root rot, plus a newer beetle-and-fungus threat. Some small growers are giving up rubber because of it.
The trap this topic keeps setting
A question may name India’s rank in growing rubber, tea, or any crop. That rank alone never tells you if India also grows enough for itself. “Big producer” and “grows enough” are two separate questions — rubber answers them differently.
One real question worth studying
- UPSC CSM 2022, GS1 Q15 (Mains)Describe where rubber-producing countries are, and the main environmental problems they face. A strong answer maps rubber’s belt across tropical Southeast Asia, then names the real cost: cutting forests, losing wildlife, worn-out soil, and chemical run-off.
Quick Q&A
Why does Kerala grow almost all of India’s rubber?
Its hilly, high-rainfall terrain suits the rubber tree, and most of the crop grew up as a smallholder tradition there.
Is India a top-three rubber producer?
No. Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam together supply well over half the world’s natural rubber; India is a significant producer but not in that top three.
Why does India still import rubber if it grows so much?
India’s own use has stayed ahead of its output for years, so about 40% of what it consumes comes from imports.
What is Project INROAD trying to fix?
It plants rubber across the North-East so the country is not almost entirely dependent on Kerala alone.
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