Excise duty: Jewellers shut shops for 3 days in TN/Puducherry

Jewellers across Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Puducherry today commenced a three-day shut down protesting the one per cent excise duty on jewellery proposed in the Union budget 2016-17.
"Around 36,0000 traders in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have shut shops as part of the protest. Around 12 lakh people are employed in this sector. This one per cent levy as excise duty will further affect the industry", Madras Jewellers and Diamond Merchants' Association President Jayanthilal Challani told reporters here.
"We will be deciding our further course of action in few days," he said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the budget for 2016-17 said the government proposes to levy one per cent excise duty on jewellery without input credit or 12.5 per cent with input tax credit on articles of jewellery excluding silver jewellery other than studded with diamonds and other precious stones.

All India Gem and Jewellery Trade Federation, Zonal Chairman N Anantha Padmanabhan said the central government's proposal was a big disappointment for the traders and would be further intensifying the protest.
"It is a big disappointment for us. We were expecting that the condition of providing PAN Card for purchase of jewels worth Rs two lakh pan card to go above Rs five lakh.

But it did not happen. We will be meeting government officials in Delhi to express our views shortly" he said.
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A report from Coimbatore said more than 1,000 jewelleries remained closed in the region.

About 625 shops were closed in Coimbatore, while nearly 200 shops in Tirupur and 500 in Nilgiris District downed their shutters, police said.
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In Madurai, hundreds of jewellery shops remained closed, protesting the excise duty levy.
The Terku Avani Moola Street in this city, dotted with jewellery shops, wore a deserted look in view of the protest.
The jewellers are also demanding government should not insist onproduction of PAN card by customers when they purchased gold for more than Rs.Two lakh.