The textile traders have hailed the State government’s decision to withdraw Value Added Tax (VAT) on textiles.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Andhra Pradesh Textiles Federation vice-president Bachu Venkata Narasimha Rao said that the textile traders expressed their gratitude to the State government for listening to their woes.
Ministers and MLAs supported the cause and used their good offices in withdrawing the VAT, he said.
Mr. Rao recalled that the traders agitated when the government had imposed 5 per cent VAT on textiles. The textile shops were closed for 21 days.
In response to it, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy had stated that the GST would be implemented across the country. The traders agreed to 1 per cent VAT as the GST would be implemented.
However, some states went back on it depriving the traders from the State level playing field. Meanwhile, the textile business was brought under sensitive commodities list. It upped the ante.
So, the traders agitated again urging the government to withdraw the VAT and de-list textiles from sensitive commodity list, he explained.
Cabinet Minister T.G. Venkatesh, Anam Ramnarayan Reddy, Vijayawada (West) MLA Velampalli Srinivas, Vijayawada (Central) MLA Malladi Vishnu and others helped the textile traders, he added.
Krishnaveni Wholesale Cloth Merchants’ Association general secretary Velampalli Ramachandra Rao, Cloth Merchants’ Association president Chintalapudi Raghuram, and others spoke.
