The Government may rollback the 10 percent excise duty imposed on branded apparels in the next year's Budget, Textiles Secretary Rita Menon has said.
She said that by July-end, the Ministry of Textiles would forward a letter to the Finance Ministry seeking duty rollback.
Ms. Menon stated that following the imposition of the duty there has been a decline in the local retail orders for garments for impending Diwali season. According to her, the duty is a 'little unkind' to the country's retail garment industry, which is already facing severe competition from other nations.
She stated that the Textiles Ministry has carried out discussions with leading garment retailers like Shoppers Stop and Pantaloons to assess the impact of the imposed duty on demand for branded apparels in the country during the approaching Diwali season. She, however, did not disclose anything further about this assessment.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his Budget speech made an announcement regarding a 10 percent excise levy on branded apparels. However, in view of the extensive agitation, the industry was offered a 50 percent subsidisation in the duty, which means, the duty is being levied on only half the cost of the product.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India