Agri Business

Rubber Products Incubation Centre starts functioning at RRII

Aravinda Kottayam | Updated on June 11, 2020 Published on June 11, 2020

A Rubber Products Incubation Centre (RPIC), which will help non-tyre products manufacturers in the MSME sector was inaugurated on Wednesday at the Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) Campus, Puthuppally.

In his inaugural address, KN Raghavan, Chairman and Executive Director, Rubber Board, he said that RPIC is intended to cater to the interests of non-tyre manufacturing sector amongst natural rubber consuming industry, which is a vibrant sector with more than 4,000 registered units and export earnings of ₹11,700 crore.

RPIC is intended as a centre where ideas and innovations could find expressions and get converted in to marketable products of rubber. He further stated that RPIC would serve to increase uses and consumption of NR and build up rubber products as a viable alternative to plastic.

James Jacob, Director (Research), RRII, said that an incubation centre is a place for ideas and concepts and hoped that the next generation of rubber growers will come to the centre with ideas and convert their ideas to tangible products by utilising the services rendered there.

Entrepreneurs from non-tyre rubber products, Siby Sebastian and Sudeendran, also spoke on the occasion.

Many of the small players in the Medium Small and Micro Enterprises (MSME) sector lack expertise and in-house R&D facilities for product manufacturing which hampers timely technological up-gradation and compromises the competitiveness of the sector, both in domestic and export markets. RPIC will act as a hub for converting ideas and innovations of entrepreneurs in to quality rubber products, meeting the required technical specifications.

Scientists and engineers attached to RPIC would handhold individual entrepreneurs through various stages of product development while providing access to machines and holding equipments available here. Entrepreneurs would also be able to gain access to technical books and journals available in library in Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII). Ideas and innovations can be in the field of rubber farming, processing, product development, recycling/reuse of products and control of pollution/environmental degradation.

The ultimate goal of RPIC is to develop a strong and vibrant rubber product manufacturing industry working together with growers to add value at each cog of the supply chain so as to enrich the entire sector.

Published on June 11, 2020

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