Hyderabad: Jewellers to continue strike

Hyderabad: Members of the Twin Cities Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation have decided to continue with their strike till further notice to protest against the proposal in the Union Budget to implement Excise duty on the gems and jewellery sector.

Federation chairman G.V. Sreedhar said the excise duty  would negatively impact a large number of manufacturers, artisans and craftsmen. “The Excise guidelines are not practically implementable and will be detrimental to the survival of the industry. We urge the government to withdraw the proposal till there is proper dialogue and discussion on the subject,” he said, adding that the protest would continue till the government took cognisance of their views.

Mr Ashok Minawala, past chairman, said that jewellers had taken objection to their trade perceived negatively as a source of black money and unaccounted transactions.

He emphasised that the government should not equate jewellery business with bullion trade. “The imposition of the excise regime will make lakhs craftspersons jobless. The sector, which is a classic example of Make in India and Skill India, is suffering due to ill-informed policy decisions,” he said.