The Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to withdraw Value Added Tax (VAT) on textiles.
After a series of meetings on Sunday to end the deadlock over the issue with Group of Ministers and textile traders, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has agreed to withdraw the tax.
Months of protest by traders against imposition of Valued Added Tax on textiles seems to have yielded results. Both the Group of Ministers and representatives of the association have met the Chief Minister at the latter’s Camp Office in the evening to find a solution for the problem.
About one lakh traders across the State have been protesting against the imposition of VAT at 5 per cent rate in 2011.
The traders said the Chief Minister was completely misguided on this aspect.
The traders have been opposing levy of tax on textiles, saying it would increase the cost of the product.
“The State would lose out heavily if the tax was imposed as no other neighbouring State levied such tax. Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, which had imposed such tax, had immediately rolled back,” a representative of the association said after the meeting with Group of Ministers.
“We welcome the decision. This will help not only help one lakh textile traders but also help common people,” Ammanabolu Prakash, President of Andhra Pradesh Federation of Textile Associations (APFTA), said reacting to the Government decision.