After an assurance from Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that some of the proposed taxes on the industry would be rolled back,jewellers across the country have decided to postpone their strike till May 11. The jewellers have been on a strike from March 17 - a day after the budget speech in which the union finance minister had announced the imposition of a 1 per cent excise duty and steps to hike import duty on gold from 2 per cent to 4 per cent. The jewellers,however,claim that during a meeting between the jewellers association and the union finance minister on Friday,a compromise was reached with the finance minister assuring to roll back the excise duty and consumer tax. Confirming the development,Vineet Dhanda,press secretary of the Ludhiana Jewellers Association said: The FM has assured us that he will announce the roll back on any day between April 24- May 11. So we have postponed our strike till then. Our shops will open from tomorrow onwards.
