Tyre Industry Bets ₹145 Crore on Northeast Rubber to Slash Import Costs and Boost Self-Sufficiency
Guwahati: Faced with rising rubber import costs and volatile global supply chains, India’s leading tyre manufacturers have set their sights on the Northeast. In a rare collaboration, MRF, CEAT, JK Tyre, and Apollo Tyres are investing ₹145 crore into the ISPEED (INROAD Skilling and Production Efficiency Enhancement Drive) programme, aiming to localize the production of critical raw materials, not as a CSR effort, but as a strategic supply chain move.
The programme plans to train 2 lakh rubber farmers and tappers across 94 districts, driving scale, quality, and sustainability in India’s fragmented natural rubber industry. This initiative could reduce India’s rubber import reliance by 40%, potentially saving ₹8,000 crore annually.
Launched in Guwahati, ISPEED marks a pivotal shift in India’s tyre industry strategy—building a self-sustaining, skilled domestic rubber ecosystem in the Northeast. A key part of Project INROAD, in collaboration with the Rubber Board of India and the Ministry of Commerce, ISPEED’s five-year plan aims to enhance productivity, quality, and long-term backward integration for India’s ₹75,000 crore tyre sector, targeting rubber growers and workers across Northeast India and West Bengal. The goal: to reduce dependency on imports and create a robust, localized supply chain.
“India imports nearly half of the rubber it consumes. As an industry, we cannot afford to continue down that path. The solution lies in self-reliance—growing high-quality rubber in India through skill, science, and systems,” said Arun Mammen, Chairman of ATMA and Vice-Chairman & MD of MRF Ltd in an interview with Business North East (BNE), who was present in Guwahati to officially launch the programme.
India’s Rubber Demand-Supply Mismatch:
India is the world’s third-largest consumer of natural rubber, after China and the US, consuming over 1.2 million tonnes annually. However, domestic production remains stagnant at 7.8 lakh tonnes, creating a 40% demand gap.
The Northeast, with its favourable agro-climatic conditions, holds tremendous untapped potential to bridge this gap. The region currently contributes only 16% of India’s rubber output, despite comprising nearly 60% of the new plantation area in the past decade.
According to the Rubber Board, the region has an estimated 1.5 million hectares of rubber cultivation potential, especially in Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, and Mizoram.
“The rubber industry cannot just sit back and blame imports. We need to go to the source—empower farmers, build quality systems, and ensure long-term productivity,” Pravin Tripathi, Chairman of INROAD and former IAS officer told BNE.
ISPEED: Five-Year Plan to Build a Skilled, Self-Sufficient Rubber Economy:
• Training 2 lakh farmers and tappers in scientific tapping, grading, processing, and quality control.
• Establishing 3,000 smokehouses and 3,000 manual/motorized sheet rolling machines to support post-harvest processing.
• Rolling out model nurseries and demo units for high-quality planting material.
• Forming farmer knowledge clusters and peer-to-peer learning hubs.
• Launching a digital dashboard for monitoring training outcomes and yield data.
“We want to ensure that the rubber produced here meets global quality benchmarks so that manufacturers prefer domestic over imported,” Tripathi added.
“This initiative is about enabling Indian rubber growers with the tools and knowledge to improve productivity and quality at the source. The Indian tyre industry is committed to making India rubber self-sufficient,” said Mammen during the launch.
Geographic Spread: Deepening Roots Across 94 Districts
• According to INROAD Chairman Pravin Tripathi, the programme has already achieved significant milestones over the last two years So far, we have already planted 1.25 lakh hectares across Tripura, Assam, Mizoram, and West Bengal, and we are on track to achieve our target of 2 lakh hectares. In the last two years alone, we have planted 95,000 hectares. The remaining 75,000 hectares will be completed within the next two years. The project now spans 94 districts—with Tripura and Mizoram emerging as leading contributors.”
“Wherever the state government, forest department, and Rubber Board have stepped in, the pace has been remarkable. Tripura is the best example. We are confident of achieving full coverage within the stipulated timeframe. The infrastructure, ecosystem, and community participation are already in place,” Tripathi noted.
Tripathi further highlighted the economic impact of the project: “By improving quality at the source, farmers can connect directly to end-users, cutting out middlemen and getting better prices. This will have a multiplier effect not just on income, but also on rural economies across the Northeast.”
Rubber Self-Sufficiency by 2030?
According to ATMA’s projection, once the plantations reach maturity (in 6–7 years), the Northeast alone could produce 3 lakh tonnes of natural rubber annually.
That’s nearly 40% of India’s current rubber requirement, and enough to save over ₹8,000 crore annually in import costs, based on current prices. “With 500 kg yield per hectare annually on average, this production capacity will drastically shift India’s dependency from imports to domestic availability, fulfilling the tyre industry’s needs through Indian-grown rubber,” said Mammen.
“We are training and skilling farmers, workers, and tappers so that productivity increases and they are able to generate more income from rubber. We are investing over ₹1,100 crore across five years into plantations in the Northeast.” Mammen emphasized.
Startups to Play a Role in Farm Mechanisation
A major upcoming leg of the initiative is the ATMA-INROAD Startup Challenge, which will invite Indian startups and innovators to develop affordable mechanised solutions for tapping, sheet rolling, and grading—key areas where current productivity is limited by human labour.
“If we can introduce mechanisation that raises yield by even 10–15%, it will create a massive value unlock at the farmer level,” Tripathi said. “Rubber farming is labour-intensive and recurring. If startups can help automate or mechanize key operations to raise yields, it will directly benefit the income of growers. We’ll soon launch a challenge to identify such innovations,” Tripathi added.
A Rare Private Sector-Led Value Chain Strategy:
Unlike most agricultural value chains in India, which depend on government support, the tyre industry stands out for its direct involvement in every stage—from plantation to training and processing. Companies like MRF, CEAT, JK, and Apollo are playing a key role, assigning senior personnel to the ISPEED rollout and co-funding the ₹145 crore investment.
“This is not CSR. It’s a strategic, long-term investment in securing our own raw materials,” stated Mammen.
Tripathi aptly summarized the impact: “Each visit to villages in Assam or Mizoram reveals progress—infrastructure, livelihoods, dignity. With ISPEED, we’re scaling this transformation, one farmer at a time.”
For India’s tyre industry, which has long faced the challenge of raw material insecurity amidst rising demand, the ISPEED initiative represents a course correction. By embedding itself in rubber-producing regions, the industry is securing its future. If successful, this model could become a blueprint for both India’s rubber economy and future industry-driven agricultural initiatives.
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