Madurai: Madurai MP Su Venkatsan made a representation for the Minister of Finance Union Nirmala Sitharaman directly to attract 12% GST to Sungudi Sari.
Venkatessan said increasing GST from the 5% there would have an impact on the cottage industry popular in the Madurai region.
MP explained that Sungudi Sari traditional is handmade without a machine.
Venkatessan said nearly 10,000 families from the minority of the Saurashtra community were involved in making Sungudi Sari.
These low cost saris are mostly worn by women from the low strata of the community, according to him.
He showed that the Nadu Tamil government released Sungudi Sari from the sales tax on August 22, 1955.
MP added Sungudi Sari also received a geographical identification tag from the United States on January 1, 2005, in recognition of its uniqueness.
“In 2017, the Indian government collected 5% GST to Sungudi Sari.
This is a big blow to this cottage industry, turning it into a sick industry and encouraging poor weavers under poverty,” he said.
He added that the Pandemic Covid-19 put the industry in lethargic, pushing weavers to the ravine.
Now in surprise and disappointment, the Indian government in November increases GST to Sungudi Sari from 5% to 12%, virtually throws the cottage industry out of equipment, he said.
“I truly request a GST withdrawal for Sungudi Sari and save the industry from the threshold and save 10,000 poor weaving families,” he said.
Speaking with Toi, Venkatsan quoted Nirmala Sitharaman said that the return process for GST was delayed before and had been accelerated.
“The minister also said that revising GST tariffs was the GST council decision and not the government,” he said.