Kolkata, Oct 28 (PTI) Associations and industry bodies representing the hosiery and garments units on Thursday decried the government's proposed move to raise the basic GST rates by five per cent from January 2022.

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The associations urged the government not to raise the GST rates in order to save the industry.

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The move will affect the hosiery and garments industry, K B Agarwala, the president of the Federation of Hosiery Manufacturers Association of India told reporters here.

Majority of the players in the industry will be impacted due to the inverted duty structure of 15 per cent which will raise GST rates, he said.

The industry is already hit by the pandemic as sales of garments and hosiery products are still at 65 per cent of the pre-COVID levels, Agarwala said.

Most indicators have hinted that recovery will start from the end of 2022 and any rise in taxes will be disastrous for the industry, he said.

The players in the industry are hit by the high requirement of working capital, the credit cycle of which has been extended due to the pandemic, he added. PTI dc

(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)