Delhi demands GST hike rollback on textiles

Chamber of Trader and Industry chairman Brijesh Goyal on said hundreds of cloth shops in Delhi remained closed on Thursday in protest against the GST increase on textile

The Delhi government has demanded that the proposed hike in the goods and service tax slab on textile and footwear items be rolled back, as deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday said the state will raise the matter in the GST Council meeting scheduled on Friday. He ,added that under chief minister Arvind Kejriwal the Delhi government has been in favour of keeping tax rates low.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday said the state will raise the matter in the GST Council meeting scheduled on Friday. (Representational image/PTI)

Informing the public about Delhi Government’s stance on the tax hike, Shri Manish Sisodia tweeted, “Textile traders are opposing the increase in GST rates from 5% to 12%. Their demand is justified. The Aam Aadmi Party and the Delhi government under the leadership of Shri Arvind Kejriwal have always been in favour of keeping the tax rates on the low. In the meeting of the GST council to be held tomorrow, I will raise the demand for keeping the tax on clothes low.”

“Despite the backbreaking inflation in the country, the central government has proposed a humongous tax hike on textiles under the new GST regime. The Centre has proposed to shoot up GST rates to 12% from the current rates of 5% in a complete disregard of the common man’s woes. The Delhi Government has always stood for the rights of the poor and underprivileged and has decided to protest against the hike and demand the rollback of the proposal in the GST council meeting,” Sisodia stated on Thursday.

Chamber of Trader and Industry chairman Brijesh Goyal on said hundreds of cloth shops in Delhi remained closed on Thursday in protest against the GST increase on textile. “All business organizations strongly opposed the increase in the rate of GST on clothes. Shops in big markets like Chandni Chowk, Gandhi Nagar, Karol Bagh and other markets remained closed. The traders have warned the central government that if this hike is not withdrawn in Friday’s GST council meeting, the traders of Delhi will go on an indefinite strike,” said Goyal.

Ramesh Ahuja, a Karol Bagh cloth trader, due to this the clothes will become very expensive and the general public will also have to bear the burden.