[New Delhi] Jewellers Continue Their Shutters Down for 22nd day.Effigies Of Finance Ministers+PM Are Burned In Meerut
A sizeable section of jewellers, bullion traders and artisans continued their strike for the 22nd day today to protest against the proposed 1% excise duty on non-silver jewellery, even as the government set up a panel to look into their demand.
Many jewellery houses in the country including in Delhi are closed since March 2 after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery in the Budget.
Several associations in different parts of the country have been on strike, demanding complete roll-back of the proposed excise duty.
Almost 90 per cent jewellers kept their showrooms shut in Mumbai+Meerut today.
Jewellers in various cities including Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur in Rajasthan, and Ratlam, Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh are also continuing the strike.
However, jewellers in Tamil Nadu, kept the showrooms open today.
Meanwhile, the government has constituted a panel under former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahri to look into the demands of jewellers.
The panel, which has been asked to submit its report in 60 days, will look into issues related to compliance procedure for the excise duty, including records to be maintained, forms to be filled, operating procedures and other relevant issues.
Jaitley in the Budget for 2016-17 had proposed 1 per cent excise duty on jewellery without input credit or 12.5 per cent with input tax credit on jewellery excluding silver other than studded with diamonds and some other precious stones.
In Meerut
a Section Of Businessmen Burned Effigies Of Finance Ministers+PM And Blackened The Posters Of These Leaders