Southern States - Kerala

Rubber deal: VS demands probe

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM APRIL 27. The leader of the Opposition, V. S. Achuthanandan, has demanded an inquiry into the irregularities connected with the export of rubber by the Kerala State Rubber Marketing Federation (KSRMF).

In a statement here today, he said the KSRMF had signed a deal with a Singapore-based company for the export of 20,000 tonnes of rubber from India. The KSRMF had done this without inviting global tenders and the price agreed upon was $ 529 per tonne of rubber.

The RUBCO, on the other hand, had entered into another deal after inviting global tenders and the rate at which it was exporting rubber was $ 575 per tonne.

The exchange rate as on April 8 came to Rs. 47.95 per dollar. Thus, in exporting 20,000 tonnes of rubber from India, the KSRMF would be incurring a loss of Rs. 4,41,14,000.

Mr. Achuthanandan said that the understanding while exporting rubber from the country was that the difference between the price at which the concerned agency purchased rubber from the farmers and the amount it earned through export would be made good by the Union Government and the State Government. The floor price fixed for RSS-4 grade rubber was Rs. 32,090 per tonne. Considering that the KSRMF had bought the rubber from the farmers at this rate, the Union and State Governments would have to bear a financial burden of Rs. 13,39,80,000 on the 20,000 tonnes of rubber exported by the KSRMF.

He noted that it was with the intention of removing the glut in the rubber market that the Union and State Governments had given the undertaking to compensate the loss suffered by the agency exporting rubber. The objective of this facility was to provide at least some relief to the rubber growers who were facing difficulties due to the fall in the price of the commodity.

Instead of inviting global tenders to ensure that the rubber exported by it could get the maximum possible price, the KSRMF had struck up a deal which resulted in heavy losses. The KSRMF had clearly utilised this scheme to commit a fraud on the rubber growers as well as the Union and State Governments, he alleged. He urged the State Government to bring to book the people responsible for this fraudulent deal.

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