This story is from June 27, 2017

Surat cloth traders refuse to board GST bus

Surat cloth traders refuse to board GST bus
SURAT: Nobody wants the goods and services tax in the country's largest man-made fabric (MMF) wholesale market. The roughly 70,000 textile traders in Goodluck Textile Market here have refused to register for GST, and the Rs 35,000-crore MMF sector has come to a standstill with strikes, protests and public meetings over the past week.
“Until now, there was no tax, nor did we register for excise or VAT; why is the government burdening us with GST knowing that most traders are illiterate and can't use a computer?“ said Hitesh Sanklecha, a 38-year-old textile trader, who is fasting outside his shop against the GST order.
“Not 5%, even 1% GST will ruin small traders,“ he added.
Traders said GST-compliance will hit their profits. “I don't know how to operate a computer. I will have to keep a data-entry operator and an accountant,“ said Rajnish Lillah, a textile trader in Yash Market. “Post-GST, my operating cost will go up by Rs 3 lakh.“
Surat has around 170 big and small textile markets comprising more than 75,000 shops with a daily aggregate turnover of Rs 115 crore. They deal in polyester saris, dress material, home-furnishing f ab r i c s a n d p l a i n f ab r i c s.Tarachand Kasat, convener of textile GST Sangharsh Samiti, said, “We want the government to keep GST till the yarn level. Most of the traders are illiterate and computer illiterate. GST will only mess up things and result in huge job losses in the industry.“
The city's 7.5 lakh powerloom weavers have kept away from the traders' strike but they are unhappy about being placed in the 18% GST slab. They have asked for the 12% slab; benefit of input tax credit (ITC), and exemption for weaving job-work. They also want anti-dumping duty on Chinese fabrics. About 70% of weaving units operate on job-work and the master weavers have decided to stop the supply of raw material from July 1.
Ashish Gujarati, president of Pandesara Weavers Cooperative Society Limited (PWCSL), said the traders' strike could hurt employment in the textile value chain that involves about 14.5 lakh workers.“Textile workers will flee to their hometowns and there will be huge losses to the industry,“ he said.
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