“Andhra Pradesh is the only state in the country that issued a government order (GO) on July 11 to impose VAT on textiles. This will adversely impact the traders once the VAT is implemented,” said Prakash Ammanabolu, twin cities joint action committee convenor, Apfta.
“The government has already imposed VAT on three products — 4 per cent each on yarns, colour and ready-made materials. This extra 4 per cent on textiles will eventually affect the customers as the products will become costlier,” he added.
According to him, the imposition of 4 per cent VAT on textiles and related items by the state could divert 20-30 per cent of the business to neighbouring states.
There are around 50,000 textile traders in the state. The protest, he said, would be carried out across the state in a phased manner. The association on Wednesday also held a traders’ meet here.
He said the agitation would continue till the government withdraws the VAT. It would conduct regional meetings — Telangana regional meet across 5-10 districts next week followed by Rayalaseema regional meet — if the government fails to respond.
The association also plans to conduct a ‘Chalo Assembly’ during the next Assembly session.
