Mumbai/Lucknow:
Jewellers across major cities came out in large numbers today to continue their protest against central excise on unbranded jewellery and the increase in customs duty on gold imports. Major protests were held in Mumbai, Lucknow, Kanpur and Rajkot.
The jewellers are protesting against budgetary provision to levy excise duty of one per cent on 30 per cent of the transaction value. They have been on strike since the budget proposals were announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
And as they continued with their country-wide strike for the eighth day, a top Finance Ministry official today assured them of further talks to remove their "misunderstandings".
"They have to pay only 30 paise duty on a Rs 100 transaction...that's 0.3 per cent duty," Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairman S K Goel told PTI on the sidelines of a Ficci conference here.
Nearly 5000 members of the jewellery industry gathered at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai today demanding a rollback. The jewellers staged a demonstration to protest against the budgetary proposals aimed at increasing revenues for the exchequer.
Interestingly, the jewellers opted not to open their outlets on the auspicious occasion of Gudi Padwa (Marathi New Year) yesterday. Gudi Padwa is considered an auspicious occasion for buying ornaments.
According to estimates presented by the association, the industry lost out on revenues of Rs 750 crore on Gudi Padwa day alone. It has so far lost Rs 8,000 crore in unrealised sales due to the strike that began last Saturday.
Traders in Lucknow and Kanpur said the increase in tax will give rise to smuggling.
(With inputs from PTI)