Bowing to protests by jewellers and demands in Parliament, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee hinted at a roll back of the excise duty on
unbranded jewellery but ruled out going back on the hike in
import duty on gold and platinum.
He also promised to reconsider the proposal to make it mandatory the use of PAN card for purchase of jewellery of over Rs 2 lakh.
"I understand the plight of small jewellers ...I am considering it... the period that will be available from now and (passage of) Finance Bill, I will come out with an acceptable formulation", Mukherjee said in his reply to the general discussion on the Budget for 2012-13 in the Lok Sabha.
He was referring to the decision to include unbranded jewellery in the ambit of one per cent excise duty on branded jewellery that led to protest and strikes by
bullion dealers all over the country.
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