GJEPC delegation met up Piyush Goyal
GJEPC delegation met up with Commerce and Industry Minister in Mumbai today to represent G&J Sectoral issues!
GJEPC led by Chairman Mr. Pramod Kr Agrawal, Vice Chairman Mr. Colin Shah and GJEPC board members met up with Hon’ble Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Mr. Piyush Goyal, DGFT Mr. Alok Chaturvedi, Mrs. Rupa Dutta, Economic Advisor MOC to represent the issues and concerns impacting the Gem & jewellery trade .
For bringing ease of doing business in the sector, Following concerns were raised by GJEPC to the CIM:
1: Reduction in import duty on Precious Metal Gold from 10% to 4%
2: Reduction in import duty on Cut and Polished Diamond, precious and semi-precious gemstones from 7.5% to 2.5%
2: Inclusion of gems and jewellery sector under 3% Interest Subvention Scheme on Pre and Post Shipment rupee export credit
3: Issues impeding exports of gems & jewellery from SEZs
4: GST related issues pertaining to blockage of input tax credit due to inverted duty rate structure.
4: Suggestive measure to reduce applicable GST rates on job work and certification charges.
6: Refund of accumulated tax credit on account of inverted duty structure on input for period prior to 25.02.2018.
GJEPC is seeking a package from the Government to revamp the entire gem and jewellery sector in lines with what has been given by the Government to other employment intrinsic sectors like leather and textile. This is crucial and instrumental for the growth of gem and jewellery industry in India.
The honourable Minister gave a patient hearing and was particularly concerned about the welfare of the job workers in the sector and lauded Council’s schemes like CFC and Swashthya Ratna Scheme and asked the industry to come up with time bound plan for its implementation.
The Minister emphasised on compliance and self regulation in the sector and lauded Council’s My KYC Bank initiative and discussed on ways to make it compulsory. He specially asked on how to make eCommerce exports of gems and jewellery hassle free by simplifying the procedures.
For the GST issues of the industry, the Minister assured that the Govt will take proactive steps to solve the issues. However the trade should also pursue with the state Government to have a favourable solution.
