VAT strike evokes mixed response

Traders closed down business on Wednesday in several states to protest against VAT coming into force from Friday with wholesale trade virtually paralysed.

The empowered committee of state finance ministers, campaigning for VAT implementation, however, appealed to the traders to call off the three-day bandh.

Reports reaching from various parts of the country revealed that wholesale trading was virtually paralysed on the first day of the strike although it evoked a mixed reaction among retailers many of whom made brisk business.

The bandh badly affected trade in UP, Kerala, MP, Maharashtra, HP, AP, Jharkhand and Jammu 038; Kashmir. The strike evoked mixed response in Delhi, Bihar, Assam, Orissa and Punjab. Traders in Tripura and Karnataka will go on strike on Thursday while there was no response in Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Goa and Meghalaya.