Satish Sharma, Chairman, Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), did the honours at a virtual function held at the Rubber Board Head Office in Kottayam on Friday to launch the 'mRube' logo for the Rubber Board's e-trade platform. According to a Board official, the digital platform will most likely go live in the second week of May.
According to the ATMA Chairman, the electronic trading platform for natural rubber is a timely initiative that will be a catalytic step in the right direction. The digital platform's ease of use and transparency will boost stakeholders' confidence.
Farmers in any remote corner of the country could sell their produce through the platform, according to Sawar Dhanania, Chairman of the Rubber Board. The digital platform, according to KN Raghavan, Executive Director, is an improvement on the current system, in which a farmer receives more than 90% of the final price.
Transparency, quality, and payment security are all guaranteed by the e-trading platform. Rajiv Budhraja (Director-General, ATMA); Shashi Singh (Senior Vice-President, All India Rubber Industries Association); Satish Abraham (President, Association of Latex Producers of India); Ronney Joseph Thomas (Secretary, Indian Block Rubber Processors Association); George Valy (President, Indian Rubber Dealers Federation); R Sanjith (Secretary, UPASI); Binoi Kurian (Deputy Director-Marketing), Rubber Board were among those.
The e-trade platform's technology partner is Ahmedabad-based i-Sourcing Technologies. The software development phase is now complete, and final testing is underway. Users of the electronic market must complete a one-time registration process.
Users must enter their Rubber Board licence number, and the system will retrieve information from the Rubber Board licencing portal, followed by an OTP-based validation.
'mRube' is an attempt to address some looming issues in the current rubber marketing system.
The Rubber Board will have a system for determining rubber quality. The payment gateway will be run by Federal Bank and ICICI Bank. The Board has made arrangements with banks to provide sellers with a zero-interest rate facility. Banks have agreed to finance zero interest rate advances to sellers for the first time in commodity trade history.
