New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) Traders' body CAIT and Indian Footwear Association (IFA) on Thursday urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to keep GST on footwear costing below Rs 1,000 at 5 per cent.

With effect from January 1, 2022, all footwear, irrespective of prices, attract a GST rate of 12 per cent.

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To support their contention, they added that nearly 85 per cent of the population of the country uses footwear costing less than Rs 1,000 and therefore any increase in GST will directly impact consumers.

They have sent a representation to Sitharaman as well as all state finance ministers.

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Both Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and IFA also urged Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to make BIS standards applicable only on footwear costing above Rs 1,000.

The two organisations said that since 90 per cent production of footwear is done largely by cottage industry, it is difficult to apply BIS standards on larger part of the footwear manufacturing in India.

CAIT and IFA further said India is the second largest footwear manufacturer in the world, contributing 9 per cent to the annual global production.

More than 10,000 manufacturing units and about 1.5 lakh footwear traders across the country engage more than 30 lakh people in manufacturing or trading activities, they said.

CAIT National President B C Bhartia said any increase in GST tax slab of 5 per cent would prove counterproductive for the footwear industry and trade.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)