Gujarat textile traders in combat mode against GST

Textile businessmen in Gujarat seem to be in a fighting mood against the upcoming Goods and Service Tax (GST). They are angered by central government’s decision to levy GST on fabric, saying that traders are not in a position to comply with the GST requirements. They have also threatened a strike either from June 24 or July 1.

A meeting of traders in textile sector was held in at New Cloth Market in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Representatives of around half a dozen trade bodies were unanimous about pressing the demand to keep fabric out of GST regime and have decided not to get registered on the GST Network. 

“Traders are unanimous. They don’t want any tax on fabric, which has till now been exempted from taxes. There is a panic in business community. They are aware of what bureaucrats can do out of their discretion. We will not accept any assurance from the government. The complications in GST regime will slow down the growth of textile sector and so we do not want GST on fabric,” Maskati Mahajan president Gaurang Bhagat told DNA after the meeting. 

The meeting was attended by president and office bearers of New Cloth Market, Panchkuwa Kapad Mahajan and even Hathlaari Mandal, which delivers the goods in the market. Bhagat and Kirit Patel, president of Panchkuwa Mahajan, will participate in a meeting in Delhi where representatives of associations of textile traders from across the country will decide on the roadmap to oppose GST. 

Patel said that if the government is unrelenting in its stand inspite of repeated representations, the traders will have to toughen their stand in order to press the demand.