FORTI speaks out against proposed GST hikes on textiles and apparel

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 1, 2021

The Federation of Rajasthan Trade and Industry has spoken out against the government’s plan to increase goods and services tax on textiles and apparel and plans to send a delegation to Delhi. 

“The government also followed this announcement and after some time, while revising the rates of GST, it was reduced on many consumer goods, but now the GST Council has increased the rates on clothes and shoes,” said FORTI in a statement, TNN reported. “This is against the sentiment.”
 
FORTI’s youth wing president, Dhirendra Raghav, announced that the organisation plans to send a delegation to Delhi to submit a memorandum to ministers of the concerned ministries. The delegation will also meet with chief minister Ashok Gehlot and submit a petition requesting the Union Government retract its plan to increase GST on certain categories of clothing textiles from 5% to 12%. 

“There is no tax on food and the government is giving subsidy on houses,” said FORTI’s general secretary Naresh Singhal, ET Bureau reported. “In such a situation, increasing the rate of GST on primary use items like textiles is an injustice.”
 
FORTI represents a large group of textile and clothing manufacturers, distributors, stockists, and retailers in the state of Rajasthan. The organisation has joined other trade bodies including the Retailers Association of India and the Federation of Hosiery Manufacturers Association of India in its stance against the GST hike proposed for January 2022.