Indian gold, jewel dealers on strike

NEW DELHI, March 29 (UPI) -- Gold and jewelry dealers across India maintained their strike to protest new tax and duty regulations imposed earlier this month.

The All India Gems & Jewelry Trade Federation has demanded the 2 percent duty on gold imports and other taxes on gold purchases in this month's budget speech be rolled back, bikyamasr.com reported Thursday.

"We will not withdraw the strike until our demands are met," union President Baccharaj Bamalwa said as the standoff between the union finance ministry and federation entered its second week.

The call to strike has spread across the country, considered the world's largest gold consumer, affecting consumers' ability to buy the precious metal or jewelry made of gold.

"The industry is not organized and involves thousands of small jewelers and artisans who will be further affected by increase in excise and import duty rates. The proposal … is impractical and would cause immense hardship and also loss of business to the dealers," Vikram Verlekar, president of the Goa Gold Dealers Association in Goa state, told bikyamasr.com.

Verlekar said jewelers and gold dealers would close for three days beginning Thursday as a show of solidarity with the All India Gems & Jewelry Trade Federation.