GST, raw material costs pushed footwear prices by 20-50% in 1 yr: V Noushad

V Noushad urged the government to take steps to boost the local manufacturing of components, machines and designs in the non-leather category

A senior official of the Confederation of Indian Footwear Industries (CIFI) said that the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate for products below Rs 1,000 and the rise in raw material costs has led to a 20-50 per cent hike in prices of finished footwear, across categories, in the last one year.

Starting January, GST rates for footwear priced below Rs 1,000 increased to 12 per cent as compared to 5 per cent before that. On the other hand, for products above Rs 1,000-mark, this was kept unchanged at 18 per cent. "In the last one year, raw material