Nearly 10,000 retail stores across India, including those of big brands like Pantaloons, Shoppers Stop, Westside, Lifestyle, Madura Garments and Arvind Brands, will remain close on Monday in protest against the imposition of 10% excise duty on branded apparels.
"All the big retailers along with about 4,000 small retailers have decided
to keep their stores closed on Monday
to protest against the 10% excise duty announced in Budget," Retailers Association of India CEO Kumar Rajagopalan told PTI.
He said there about 50,000 apparel brands in India,which will be impacted by the announcement made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Budget for 2011-12.
Out of a total of estimated Rs 1,00,000 crore apparel business in India annually, Rs 60,000 crore comes from the branded apparels, Rajagopalan added.
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"Nearly 10,000 retail stores across India will close shutters on Monday. We hope that the this move (shutting stores) will make the government to reconsider this decision," he added.
The Retailers Association of India (RAI) has members, including Pantaloons, Shoppers Stop, Reliance Retail, Trent Retail (Westside) and Aditya Birla Retail which also has a host of brands.
According to Future Group Director and CEO (Retail) Rakesh Biyani, the excise duty has come as a big jolt not only to the companies but also for consumers.
"The excise duty has been made mandatory from voluntary by the government, which is harming consumers, apparel makers and retailers. Keeping the stores closed even for a day means loss of revenues for firms. We will collectively talk to the government," Aditya Birla Retail CEO Thomas Varghese said.
Echoing similar concerns, Reliance Retail's Apparel Business CEO Arun Sirdeshmukh said, "Heavy excise has already been imposed, now we can only request the government to lift it as it will affect everyone."
Meanwhile, the Clothing Manufacturers Association Of India (CMAI) has called for a one day 'Bandh' today at about 50,000 garment manufacturing units across the main clusters in India.
"The domestic garment production in India is estimated to be about Rs 100,000 crore annually, so even if production across 50,000 units is shut for a day, losses will be huge," CMAI Executive Director Mohan Sadhwani said.
He said the CMAI representatives will be in Delhi from next week onwards to make presentations to the Finance Ministry and Textile Ministry officials asking for a roll back of the 10% excise duty.