Kolkata: Hailing the decision of the GST Council to hold the rate hike in the natural fibre textile sector, apparels and hosiery trade bodies have demanded the scrapping of the proposal of the hike from 5 to 12 per cent and not its deferment. The Retailers Association also urged the government to rollback the proposal. 

"It is a respite but we want abolition and not deferment of the hike. If it is postponed then it may come sometime later. So we want to continue to keep up the pressure to abolish the proposal altogether for the sake of the industry and avert huge job loss," West Bengal Garments Manufacturers & Dealers Association secretary Devendra Kumar Baid told PTI. 

There had been widespread protests pressing for the rollback of GST from the apparel and hosiery industries. 

The hosiery industry body Federation of Hosiery Manufacturers Association of India (FOHMA) has hailed the decision to hold the GST rate hike. 

"It is at least a temporary respite ahead of the new year. The tax hike would have caused a huge impact on the sector as it could not have absorbed the hike. The organised sector, which is reeling under a 25 per cent inflation owing to input material price hike, would have collapsed ad the government would have lost revenue with the strong emergence of a parallel economy to bypass the tax," Association president K B Agarwala said. 

The proposal should be abolished altogether, Agarwala, also managing director of Rupa and Co, said. 

Confederation of West Bengal Trade Association president, Sushil Poddar said the government decision to defer the GST hike will save the apparel and hosiery industry in the current difficult time as well as the common man as rate hike would have put inflationary pressure. 

Dollar Industries managing director Vinod Kumar Gupta said the decision will favour the textile industry to maintain growth and the government has forwarded the concerns of the industry to the GST rate rationalization committee. 

Bharat Chamber of Commerce president Ramesh Kumar Saraogi said its affiliated associations in hosiery and garments have now received the support to help them recover from the pandemic hit economic situation. 

The GST panel, the highest decision-making body for indirect taxes, met under emergency provisions after states made a request for deferring the January 1 hike in GST tax rates on textiles. The sector feared 15 lakh job loss from closure of one lakh units, mostly in the MSME sector. 

But, similar demand for footwear was not met.