Footwear stocks gain up to 5.5% on excise duty cut

Shares of footwear makers saw smart buying and surged as much as 5.5 per cent today, after the Finance Minister proposed reduction in excise duty.
Reacting positively to the news, shares of Relaxo Footwears surged 5.53 per cent, while Liberty Shoes gained 3.97 per cent on the BSE.
Bata India rose by 3.68 per cent and Mirza International Ltd was up 1.17 per cent.
To provide relief to the footwear industry, most of which are in SME sector, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed to reduce excise duty from 12 per cent to 6 per cent on footwear of retail price exceeding Rs 500 per pair but not exceeding Rs 1,000 a pair.

"Footwear of retail price up to Rs 500 per pair will continue to remain exempted," he said.