According to the Rubber Board's projections for 1998-99 to 2015-16, consumption will hit 762,000 tonnes against a production of 744,000 tonnes by 2002-3. By 2015-16, the gap will have widened to 82,000 tonnes, unless new ventures for promoting and producing natural rubber are taken up.

For 1998-99, production will be 620,000 tonnes and consumption 600,000 tonnes, according to the Rubber Board. According to the Rubber Chronicle, a monthly bulletin of the Indian Rubber Manufacturers Association, recent production data are not very encouraging.

During the first three quarters of 1998-99, production of natural rubber was 468,380 tonnes and consumption 439,524 tonnes. Assuming a production growth rate of 3.5 percent, the full year's production is expected to be 605,000 tonnes against 583,830 tonnes in 1997-98.

Consumption, on the other hand, is expected to be 592,000 tonnes as against 571,800 tonnes the previous year.

The Board's projections take into account the growth in use of natural rubber by the tyre industry, automobile sector and various latex items.

According to the Board, in 1999-2000, production of natural rubber will be 633,000 tonnes while consumption would increase to 651,000 tonnes. In 2001-01, production will reach 674,000 and consumption 687,000 tonnes. By 2001-2, production will equal consumption at 717,000 tonnes, after which production will begin falling behind.

Natural rubber production will begin declining as productivity of the plants shrinks. A rubber plant remains productive for about 50 years. Keeping this in view, the Board has chalked out a scheme to extend rubber plantations to non-traditional areas. The Board has identified about 1.2 lakh hectares in the north eastern states,especially Assam, where rubber is already grown.

After full implementation of the present scheme, production of rubber in the north east will increase to 50,000 tonnes by the year 2005.