India is the third largest producer, fourth largest consumer of natural rubber and fifth largest consumer of natural rubber and synthetic rubber together in the world. With around 6000 unit comprising 30 large scale, 300 medium scale and around 5600 SSI/tiny sector nits, manufacturing 35000 rubber products, employing 400 hundred thousand people, including around 22000 technically qualified support personnel, with a turnover of Rs.200 billions and contributing Rs.40 billions to the National Exchequer through taxes, duties and other levies, the Indian Rubber Industry plays a core sector role in the Indian national economy.

The wide range of rubber products manufactured by the Indian rubber industry comprises all types of heavy duty earth moving tyres. Auto tyres, tubes, automobile parts, footwear, belting, hoses, cycle tyres and tubes, cables and wires, camelback, battery boxes, latex products, pharmaceutical goods, besides molded and extruded goods for mass consumption. The products manufactured also cover hi-tech industrial items. The important areas which the industry caters to include all the three wings of defense, civil, aviation, aeronautics, railways, agriculture, transport as also textile engineering industries, pharmaceuticals, mines, steel plants, ports, family planning programmes, hospitals, sports, practically to every conceivable field.

The rubber industry in India is basically divided in two sectors - tyre and non-tyre sector produces all types of auto tyres, conventional as well as radial tyres and exports to advance countries like USA.

The non-tyre sector comprises the medium scale, small scale and tiny units. It produces high technology and sophisticated industrial products. The small scale sector accounts for over 50% of production of rubber goods in the non-tyre category. Going by share of rubber consumption, automotive tyre sector is the single largest sector accounting for about 50% consumption of all kinds of rubbers, followed by bicycles tyres and tubes 15% footwear12%, belts and hoses 6%, camelback and latex products 7%. All other remaining rubber products put together account for 10%.

The plantation sector with an estimated production of over 631 hundred thousand tons of natural rubber and a projected production of more than one million tons in near future, contributes to the rapid growth of the Indian rubber industry.

Kerala, with a total area of 3.84 lakh hectares under rubber cultivation and an annual production of 3.70 lakh tonnes, produces over 90% of India's natural rubber. Of the total area, 92 percent is represented by small holdings with an average area of around 0,5 hectares. There are about 10 Lakh growers and 3.5 Lakh workers engaged in the rubber sector of which more than 90 percent belong to Kerala. A sound network of intermediate rubber units engaged in rubber compounding, crumb rubber manufacture etc., exist in the state.