Salt manufacturers in Gujarat put off strike after govt assurance

Gujarat produces 180 lakh metric tonne of salt annually, and contributes nearly 70 per cent of salt production in the country.

Salt producers in Gujarat postponed their three-day strike from Tuesday against the imposition of VAT on the commodity after meeting Finance Minister Saurabh Patel and state BJP chief Vijay Rupani in Gandhinagar on Monday. They said the government appeared “positive” on their demands.

“We held a meeting with Rupani (also Minister for Labour and Employment) and later with Patel. We explained to the Finance Minister that calculation of the government to collect Rs 5 crore annually by imposing VAT (value-added tax) on salt was flawed as only 30 lakh metric tonne of salt is traded interstate which would generate only Rs 3 crore. The minister was positive and asked us not to go on strike, and invited us for another meeting on Wednesday. We agreed,” Bachubhai Ahir, chairman of Namak Satyagrah Samiti representing salt producers, told The Indian Express.

[related-post]

The government had announced to introduce VAT on industrial salt from this financial year in the state Budget. However, the decision did not go down well with salt-cultivators, who argued that maintaining separate records for industrial and edible salt was not feasible as there was no such distinction at the manufacturing stage. The Samiti also said that most of around 33,000 salt-manufactures in the state don’t know even basic computing, and that the new levy would give birth to “inspector raj” in the industry.

Gujarat produces 180 lakh metric tonne of salt annually, and contributes nearly 70 per cent of salt production in the country.

Earlier this month, the had government announced a partial rollback by exempting cooperative of salt-pan workers, those cultivating salt on plots of 10 acres or smaller and those who were manufacturing it on plots leased out by the government. But, the Samiti remained unmoved.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram