Strike by textile traders against GST continues

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 9

Textile traders continued their indefinite strike against the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on unstitched clothes here today.

Despite being Sunday, shops remained closed today, Sunday records the maximum sale as retailers from rural and remote areas of the state come to purchase goods in bulk.

On the call by the Federation of Textile Traders of Amritsar (FTTA), traders have been protesting against the Union Government before the implementation of the GST.

Jatinder Singh Moti Bhatia, president, FTTA, said, “All major cloth markets in the city, including Shastri Market, Cash Dhara Bazaar, Pashma Wala Bazar, Chheharta, Golden Cloth Market and others, remained closed today. Traders will not call off their strike until the government rolls back its decision in which it imposed five per cent GST on unstitched clothes. The government must keep its tax on yarn as it is not practically possible for the traders to install computer sets and hire computer operators at their shops to generate bills and update accounts.”

He added that a majority of textile traders were carrying out trades at a small level and running their shops in a few yards.

Bhatia said the government was already charging five per cent GST on apparel and readymade garments valuing less than Rs 1,000 and 12 per cent on apparel valuing over Rs 1,000. He said job work on apparel would attract 18 per cent GST.

He said the spate of taxes on the textile sector make the readymade and other garments costly. Traders fear that these taxes would make apparels luxurious goods, he added.