Gujarat MPs to Meet With PM Modi Over Jewelers Strike Impasse
March 14, 16
(IDEX Online News) – MPs from Gujarat, including Union Minister Mohan Kundariya, will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to try and resolve the jewelers strike, according to The Times of India.
Thousands of Indian jewelers have laid down their tools in protest over the 1 percent excise duty on all gold and diamond jewelry (silver jewelry is excluded), which the government proposed in the recent budget. Protesters are also demanding that the government rescind the mandatory PAN clause requirements for purchases of Rs 200,000 ($3,014) and above.
"Being the MP of Rajkot, I met these jewellers today to know their problems,” said Kundariya.
“Jewellers across India are agitating against the proposed excise duty. I have told them that both BJP as well as the central government are trying their best to find a solution…In the coming days, all the MPs from Gujarat will meet the PM and make a representation about this issue. We will see this issue is resolved."
A report in The Hindustan Times, said that the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association, the Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation and others, plan to converge on Delhi on March 17, to pressure the government to revise its decision.
According to a recent Bloomberg report, the strike is costing the gem and jewelry industry up to $150 million per day.