Excise on jewellery to stay, but finance ministry ready to ease rules

Jewellers' association digs in, says strike to continue till excise is completely withdrawn

The finance ministry has ruled out rolling back excise duty on jewellery, but has shown preparedness to solve real issues of jewellery industry regarding implementation of excise duty. 

The ministry has told the president of India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) that we are ready to sit and discuss the solution, where jewelers can be benefitted and no harassment is done to them, an IBJA official said. The ministry added that it was ready to amend the rules where jewelers were not harmed. 

The IBJA will soon be calling a meeting to discuss the issue further. 

An excise duty of 1% was proposed in the Union Budget, opposing which all Indian jewelers were on strike from March 1. The IBJA, however, has stated that the indefinite strike will continue till the excise was completely withdrawn.