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‘Inauspicious’ start to year for some as gold shops stay shut

Gudi Padwa was tarnished by gold jewellery manufacturers, wholesalers, and retail showroom owners across the city and satellite towns keeping their shops shut.

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Priyanka Kanchan, a 24-year-old professional, had hoped to buy gold to mark the Maharashtrian new year Gudi Padwa. Standing outside a shop on LT Road in Borivli she waited in vain for it to open.

“I had planned to buy gold today as it is considered an auspicious ‘muhurat’,” she said.

She wasn’t the only one disappointed. The Shah sisters were upset that even on their third round in a week, their trusted shop of gold and diamond jewellery was closed. “I had hoped that at least today the shop would be open, but now I have to go back empty-handed,” said Parul Shah.

Gold jewellery manufacturers, wholesalers, and retail showroom owners across the city and satellite towns kept their shops shut on Friday to protest against the 4% customs duty and 1% excise duty, besides the new rules and regulations levied on them. A few shops did business to respect tradition, but they too closed by noon.

"Usually, showrooms in Borivli (West) alone make around Rs10 crore on such auspicious days, but today, no one is happy, neither us nor our loyal customers," said a manufacturer.

Shops in Zaveri Bazaar and Dagina Bazaar in South Mumbai have been closed for a week after the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation, an umbrella of different associations and unions, called for a bandh across the city and in satellite towns, including Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, Vasai-Virar, Palghar. The federation has called for a peace protest at Azad Maidan today.

Vinod Jain from Zaveri Bazaar, who is a member of Mumbai Gold Wholesalers Association, said that traders, manufacturers and retailers are not averse to the taxes, but the rules and regulations imposed on the industry while levying the duties, as well as the consumer tax, are against the very nature of the business as it incurs lot of paperwork.

“It’s not that we don’t want to pay, but the government is making life difficult for the small and medium players by bringing them in the clutches of rules," said Vasantbhai Birawat, board member of the federation and a member of the association.
Kiran Mehta, another member of the association, said that jewellery-making is traditionally a family business and government can't expect to give it a corporate touch by imposing such difficult rules.

Mumbai houses more than 25,000 gold jewellery manufacturers, with more than 2-3 lakh employees. Approximately 15,000 retail shops earn well even on lean days, thanks to the soaring gold prices. However, the manufacturers stopped making gold jewellery after the bandh call.

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