India's rubber industry continues to face a significant structural gap between domestic natural rubber production and consumption. AIRIA President Anay Gupta noted that India produced around 8.75 lakh tonnes of natural rubber in 2024-25, against domestic consumption of approximately 14.10 lakh tonnes. This resulted in a production-consumption gap of about 5.35 lakh tonnes. Natural rubber imports consequently increased to around 5.51 lakh tonnes, compared with 4.93 lakh tonnes in 2023-24. The figures underline the continuing dependence of India's rubber product industry on imported raw material. For non-tyre manufacturers, particularly MSMEs producing hoses, belts, seals, footwear, moulded components and other industrial products, raw material availability and price stability remain important cost considerations. The industry is therefore increasingly focused on improving domestic production, expanding rubber cultivation and ensuring more predictable access to natural rubber for downstream manufacturing.