| "Approximate business turnover of Rs 2.50 crore has been affected due to the bandh," said Raju Pobaru, president of Rajkot Seeds and Oil Bullion Merchants Association (RSOBMA) |
| Initially, the stamp duty was charged at 10 naiya paise per transaction of Rs 1 lakh, which was agreed to be hiked to rupee one per transaction of Rs 1 lakh. But instead of this, the state government hiked it to Rs 10 per transaction of Rs1 lakh w.e.f. April 1. |
| This is ten times higher than the agreed amount and almost 1,000 times higher than the existing stamp duty charges, Pobaru said. With the new stamp duty charges slammed on the trade, majority of bullion market operators, brokers, businessman had to call for bandh. |
| "We had urged the state finance minister alongwith the ruling party representatives, to reconsider the proposed stamp duty and restructure it accordingly," he added. |
| "We we were assured that notification shall be issued by April 21. But till date no such instructions had been issued. Therefore, we were compelled to give a call of bandh," Pobaru said. |
| Rajkot mainly being a hub of bullion transactions specifically for gold, silver and castor, majority of the bullion operators have supported the call in the city. |
| "This charge has been slammed on turnover of gold, silver, agri-commodities etc and majority of the business operators trading mainly in castor have supported the call of bandh," said Bharat Vasa, vice-president of RSOBMA. |
| We had communicated our concern for the bandh to our other similar market operators located in other parts of the country, they have also declared their support to us, added Vassa. |
| Speaking to Business Standard, Raju Pobaru said, "If stamp duty charges are not reduced, there are all possibilities that business from Gujarat shall be diverted to other state, as the existing stamp duty charges in other states are less than Gujarat. Operators shall start operating under brokers of Mumbai by taking their business IDs." |
Top Section
Explore Business Standard