Textile traders go on strike protesting VAT

Around 10 lakh textile traders including two lakh wholesalers across Orissa shut their outlets on Tuesday in protest against the imposition of value added tax (VAT) on textile products by the state government.

All Orissa textile merchants’ association (AOTMA) has decided to keep the textile shops closed tomorrow as well and hold a rally in Bhubaneswar, said the association officials.

They feared the consumers might prefer to buy textile products from neighbouring states where these will be cheaper as no other state including neighboring West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have imposed VAT on textile items.

“Why the consumer will buy textile products here when the same products will be available at cheaper rates in nearby towns of neighboring states” said RN Mohapatra, the president of AOTMA. The price of clothes in the state will go up by at least 6 percent compared to other states as the state government has decided to collect entry tax at the rate of 2 percent and VAT at 4 percent, he said.