Jewellers in Maharashtra call off strike temporarily

Jewellers in Maharashtra have called off their strike temporarily, from April 14 to 24. “We are meeting the Union Minister Piyush Goyal tomorrow in Delhi with our demands, which include paying additional one per cent additional tax on VAT instead of excise duty, no maintenance of extra register keeping details of each items, no additional tax on remake of old jewellery and no inspection of manufacturing and retail units.

“For this we have temporarily halted the strike in the state from April 14 to 24,” Maharashtra Rajya Saraf Suvarnakar Federation President Fatechand Ranka told PTI here.

He said if the demands were not met, the jewellers in the state will resume the strike.

In Maharashtra, jewellery sales everyday go up to Rs 250 rore, which doubles on festive occasions like Gudi Padwa, the Marathi new year.

Jewellers across the country are on indefinite strike since March 2, against the Budget proposal to levy 1 per cen tax.

Over 300 associations comprising over 3 lakh manufacturers, retainers, wholesalers, artisans among others, participated in the stir across the country.

As an alternative to the excise duty, the jewellers said the government can increase the customs duty by 1-2 per cent.