Union Budget 2023: The Gems and Jewelery industry has high hopes from the last budget of the second term of the Modi government. This industry believes that if the government accepts their demands, it will not only benefit this industry but will also help in increasing employment.
Custom duty reduced on gold
Due to the rapid rise in gold prices, the jewelery industry has also demanded the government to reduce the custom duty on gold. At present, 12.5 per cent basic custom duty and 2.5 per cent agriculture-infrastructure cess have to be paid on gold imports. Due to high custom duty on gold, where 1068 tonnes of gold had arrived in 2021, it has come down to 706 tonnes in 2022. Smuggling of gold has also increased due to increase in custom duty, which has now reached 200 tonnes. The Gems and Jewelery Promotion Council has demanded import duty on gold, silver and platinum to be reduced to 4 per cent. Jewelers say that after the Corona epidemic, the business of organized jewelers has increased by 36 percent, while the shops of small jewelers have been closed.
Demand to reduce duty on import of diamonds
The Gems and Jewelery Promotion Council (GJEPC) has submitted its list of demands to the Finance Ministry, in which a demand has been made to reduce the import duty on cut and polished diamonds. The council has demanded the government to reduce the import duty on cut and polished diamonds from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent. Along with this, a demand has been made to give this benefit on polished gems as well. Council chairman Vijay Manguki said that apart from this, a demand has been made to give allowance for selling rough diamonds in special notified zones. If rough diamonds are sold, the importer should be exempted from 2 per cent equalization levy. According to the council, after natural diamonds, the demand for lab grown diamonds has increased rapidly. To make lab grown diamonds affordable, there is a need to reduce the import duty on the seeds used for it. Along with this, the council has demanded abolition of import duty on machinery manufacturing lab grown diamonds.
increased purchase limit without pan card
Apart from this, the Gems and Jewelery industry has also demanded a reduction in the GST rate on jewellery. There has been a demand to reduce GST on jewelery from the current 3% to 1.25%. Jewelers have demanded the Finance Minister to increase the limit for buying jewelery with PAN card from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. Jewelers argue that many people in rural areas do not have PAN card and they face huge difficulties while buying gold.
Eliminate commission on credit card purchases
The jewelers have demanded an increase in the daily cash limit under section 40A of the Income Tax Act from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh per day. Also asked to abolish 1 to 1.5 percent commission charged by the bank on buying jewelery with credit card. Jewelers want the government to issue clarification on how much gold a person can deposit in the Gold Monetization Scheme so that depositors do not have to answer questions from any department.
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