Jewellers end strike on promise of duty roll back

"The finance minister has assured (us) that whatever best is possible will be done," said a member of the jewellers delegation who met Mukherjee at his North Block office.u00a0

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Jewellers across the country have been striking since Mukherjee in the union budget March 16 proposed one percent excise duty on unbranded jewellery and doubled the import duty to 4 percent on gold.

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Official sources said the government was likely to roll back the one percent excise duty imposed on unbranded jewellery.u00a0

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However, there was no official announcement in this regard as the decision on roll back has to be taken by parliament.u00a0

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The agitating jewellers also met Sonia Gandhi and requested her to ask the government to roll back the duties.u00a0

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Madhukar Chachad, president of the All India Swarankar Sangh, later said that Gandhi had "assured us that she will forward our demands to the finance minister for further action".u00a0

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