In protest against the Union government’s decision to impose excise duty on ready-made garments priced at Rs 1,000 or above, around 17,000-odd garment manufacturers, wholesalers, traders and retail merchants from all over Gujarat had taken part in a day-long token strike in Hyderabad.
Under the aegis of of the Gujarat Garments Manufacturers Association (GGMA), the strike took place on Monday (March 14). It happened to coincide with an ongoing indefinite strike, called by the jewellery association, which on its 10th day on Monday took out a motorcycle rally from Prabhat Chowk in Ghatlodia area of Ahmedabad to CG road to press for similar demands.
Garment merchants in the state have long been protesting against the 2 per cent excise duty that was announced in the Union Budget-2016-17 on branded ready-made garments, priced at Rs 1,000 or above. Secretary of GGMA Arpan Shah has said that in Ahmedbad, around 2,500 stakeholders of the industry took part in a peaceful sit-in on Ghee Kanta road. He said that his organization would now put forth the roll-back demand in front of the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Textile Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar and ruling BJP president Rajnath Singh.
