New Delhi: Jewellers are likely to call off their 21-day strike, according to sources. The breakthrough came after the jewellers' meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday. Sources say the Centre is likely to drop one per cent excise duty on non-branded jewellery.
An indication that some of the demands may be met came as Congress President Sonia Gandhi assured jewellers their concerns will be looked into. The jewellers are expected to make an official announcement by Friday evening.
"We have requested her to give us an assurance that we will get relief. They've told us that our problems will be heard. We have not been given a time period," one of the jewellers Jagjit Singh Sahdev said.
Gandhi, he said, "has assured us that she will forward our demands to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for further action".
Ahead of the meeting of jewellers with Gandhi, the Congress had asked the government to look into the demands of jewellers, who have been agitating for more than a fortnight.
Various jewellers associations, including Bullion Traders Association, Market Sarafa Association, and diamond traders have been on strike since March 17.
Mukherjee in his Budget for 2012-13 had imposed 1 percent excise duty on all unbranded jewellery and doubled the import duty to 4 percent on gold. He also announced that quoting of PAN card would be mandatory for purchase of jewellery worth more than Rs 2 lakh.
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