Jewellers strike against excise duty continues for 24th day

New Delhi: A large number of jewellers and bullion traders across the country continued their strike for the 24th day on Friday in protest against the proposed 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery, despite the government constituting a panel to look into their demand.

Many jewellery houses in the country including in Delhi are closed since March 2 after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced one per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery in the Budget.

However, most of the jewellery showrooms in Tamil Nadu remained open today for regular trading.

Several associations in different parts of the country have been on strike, demanding complete roll-back of the proposed excise duty.

Meanwhile, the government has constituted a panel under former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahri to look into the demands of jewellers.

The panel, which has been asked to submit its report in 60 days, will look into issues related to compliance procedure for the excise duty, including records to be maintained, forms to be filled, operating procedures and other relevant issues.

Jaitley in the Budget for 2016-17 had proposed 1 per cent excise duty on jewellery without input credit or 12.5 per cent with input tax credit on jewellery excluding silver other than studded with diamonds and some other precious stones.