Kolkata, April 07: The Union government has slapped an excise duty of 10 per cent on jute products that constitute about 80 per cent of the Rs 6,000 crore industry and threatens to cripple the fate of 2.5 lakh workers.
“This 10 per cent central excise duty on the jute sector will bring great trouble to the industry and increase the cost of jute packaging products,” industry veteran Sanjay Kajaria said.
He believes this could be an error of part of the ministry as jute comes under textiles and branded garments on which excise duty has already been levied.
All export orders have been stalled because of the notification, Kajaria informed.
-Agencies