Excise duty on 130 items has Punjab manufacturers protesting

Ludhiana, Mar 3 (ANI): The excise duty proposed to levied on 130 items by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Budget 2011-12, has not gone down well with the industrial sectors in Punjab.

Cycle manufacturers and textile industrialists in Punjab are protesting against the excise duty imposed, terming it 'unjustified' and 'uncalled for.

Manufacturers from both of these industries held a meeting here to discuss a plan of action against the announcement.

"In the 2011-12 Budget, 130 out of the 370 items which were earlier exempted from excise duty, have been removed from the list by Finance Minister. One of the items is cycle. Although the excise duty on cycle has been announced to be of 5 percent, but for now only 1 percent will be charged while 4 percent exemption has been given. We, all cycle manufactures are opposing this; we are making an appeal to the members of parliament to remove the excise duty imposed on cycle," said Onkar Singh Pahwa, Cycle Manfacturer and Committee member.

Pahwa further said the imposition of excise duty was unfair as manufacturers were already paying excise duty on raw materials.

"The cycle is a common man's vehicle. Therefore, excise should not be charged on it. The parts used in production of a cycle are manufactured on small scale, and we already paying excise duty on raw materials like steel, rubber, and paint," he added.

Earlier, in 200, excise duty was imposed on bicycles, but it had to be withdrawn within three months following opposition from bicycle manufacturers.

Similar sentiments were voiced out at a meeting of textile manufacturers.

"The garment industry is already suffering due to the hike in yarn prices and labour and power shortage. This Excise duty has come as another blow to us. Small and Medium scale businessmen would not be able to take it. Because the duty of 7 percent has been put on MRP, which means the duty is 4 percent higher than the profit a manufacture makes," said Ajit Lakra, President of Ludhiana Knitters Association. (ANI)