India's tyre consumption is likely to rise by up to 6% by end-this fiscal on the back of an increased demand from the automobile sector, a senior industry official said.

"Tyre consumption is expected to increase by five to 6% in the next six to eight months as the automobile industry is picking up fast," director general of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), Rajiv Budhraja, told PTI here.

India's auto sales rose 17.1% in September from a year-ago to 2,12,975 vehicles. Sales of passenger cars rose 20.6% to 1,29,683 units, while the recovery in commercial vehicle sales also gathered pace with a growth of 6.5% to 45,451 units, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).

Auto sales have recovered some ground after a period of sluggishness in the wake of the global economic meltdown.

Global automakers like Ford, General Motors, BMW and Nissan have been pushing into India's small but fast-growing auto market, hoping to secure a foothold for future growth.

Domestic auto majors such as Tata Motors and Maruti, also witnessed a rise in sales. However, Budhraja said higher import  duty on raw materials is posing a serious threat to the domestic tyre industry.

"The duty on raw material at 20% is higher than the import of tyres at 10 per cent. This is a huge concern," he said.

"With rubber growers resorting to exports, the government should allow for duty-free import of rubber," Budhraja said.

The tyre industry consumes about 60% of the natural rubber produced in India.

"With the automobile industry once again perking up, tyre consumption is expected to increase. It could rise by up to 5-6% by end-this fiscal," Ceat's managing director, Paras Chowdhary, said.

Describing it as "good news", Chowdhary said that the auto sector has begun to recover and this in turn, would push up tyre sales.