Jewellers’ stir enters 14th day, buyers hit

As the indefinite strike by jewellers seeking the abolition of the excise duty on non-branded ornaments enters the second week on Thursday, their nearly two lakh employees along with consumers looking to buy the yellow metal have no option but to wait.

Jewellery manufacturers and shop-owners have kept their businesses shut in protest against the Union budget introducing of excise duty on non-branded items, suddenly hiking in customs duty from 1 to 4 per cent in a short span and levying 1 per cent tax on cash transactions up to Rs 2 lakh.

While the stir has hit the daily businesses of over 25,000 jewellers as well as earnings of the nearly two lakh workers associated with them, the situation is unlikely to change till March 31, when Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s assurance of looking into the issue ends. Stating that the excise duty was alright in case of big manufacturers but not for the many small manufacturers, a Zaveri Bazaar-based jeweller requesting not to be named said, “The new regulations will impel small jewellery makers to keep an account of their transactions, which is a difficult job to do.” The jeweller, who is also associated with Mumbai Wholesale Gold Jewellers Association, also warned that the stir will be intensified if the government did not comply with their demands.

Gold consumers too are sulking in face of the stir, which is being supported by many jewellers associations across the city. While empathising with the buyers, the Bandra-based jeweller Ishu Datwani said, “We have ensured that orders placed with us prior to the protests have been delivered.” Further, Datwani, also the founder-member of the all-India Gems and Jewellers Federation, claimed consumers too were sympathetic to their movement.

This, even as city customers hoped for the protests are called off soon so that they can make purchases. “Like so many others, I wanted to buy gold on the auspicious occasion of Gudi Padwa, but could not. In view of the stir prolonging, how does someone getting married buy ornaments? Moreover, even if they do manage to buy gold from somewhere, they may end paying more than the actual rate,” said S Srinivasan, a Ghatkopar resident.