Retailers to strike against excise duty

Over 10,000 garment retail stores,including giants like Pantaloons,Shoppers Stop,Westside,Lifestyle,Madura Garments,Reliance and Arvind Brands,have decided to keep their stores shut on Monday to protest against the imposition of 10 per cent excise duty on branded apparel announced in the Union Budget for 2011-12.

On Friday,garment manufacturing units across India remained closed to protest against the excise on branded readymade garments. More than 10,000 people consisting of garment manufacturers,traders,retailers and workers gathered at Azad Maidan,Mumbai. In Delhi,40,000 people gathered at Jantar Mantar Road in a protest rally. In Kolkata,as many as 75,000 people gathered in a protest march. In Ahmedabad,more than 25,000 participants joined the protest march, the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India CMAI said. The hosiery hubs of Ludhiana and Tirupur also witnessed a complete shutdown with manufacturing units observing a bandh to support the movement,CMAI said.