After meeting the representatives of Textile Industry in Surat, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assured them that the Centre will look into their concerns. The textiles body in Surat made representation before the finance minister seeking ease in procedures related to Goods and Services Tax (GST). Both the association and Jaitley said that the meeting was positive.

The Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association, president, Manoj Agarwal said, “We told Jaitleyji that Surat’s textile industry is badly hurt due to GST and asked him to address our problems. We said we want GST, but we are not able to follow GST rules.”

The meeting was attended by around 300 textile traders and members of the Association. Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, Navsari MP C R Patil, and Union Minister Jitendra Singh were also present for the meeting.

Agarwal added that the textile traders raised issues regarding GST at one point for saree processing and expressed concerns over e-way bill and reverse charge mechanism.

Jaitley said, “The Surat Textile Industry is very progressive and positive about government’s economic policies and supports GST.” He added the Surat industry has demanded that the procedures should be made simpler, especially for small textile industry, and he has invited their representatives to meet concerned officials in Delhi to sort out their problems. He was also happy with the fact that the GST Council has solved the issues raised with historic tax reforms.

– Apparel and Textile News, Apparel Talk, Indian Apparel