VIJAYAWADA: With a 30-40 per cent rise in the prices of the crackers, celebration of Diwali with traditional fireworks will be a costly affair for the households this time. Traders have attributed the rise in prices of firecrackers to the imposition of 28 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) levied by the Central Government.
According to traders, the public in large numbers are turning up at the market and after checking out the prices, leaving with a dejected look. The prices compared to the previous year are several times high. Earlier firecrackers were in the 12 per cent VAT slab, but in the GST regime, they fall under the highest tax slab of 28 per cent that has become an additional burden for the public, thereby dampening the festive spirit.
A majority of denizens, who purchased crackers at the wholesale shops in One Town on Monday, complained that they bought only a few items due to the steep rise in the prices of the firecrackers. K Ravindra Reddy, a private employee said, ‘’There is a 30 per cent rise in the price of crackers. Traders are maintaining that the price rise is 20 per cent only. If the Centre fails to withdraw the tax slab on firecrackers, people will be forced to celebrate Diwali without crackers in near future.”
‘’There are new varieties of firecrackers this year. The same varieties available last year are being sold at exorbitant rates, including 28 per cent GST. There is no truth in the claims of retail traders that they are selling the crackers at wholesale prices,” said R Sumanth, who bought crackers worth `10,000 for his family this festive season.
‘’In the previous year, `25,000 was paid as tax for purchasing stocks worth `3 lakh. Now, with GST, the taxation stands at `42,000. Besides this, an additional `10,000 is to be paid as rent to Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) for setting up a stall in Swaraj Maidan, which was `7,000 earlier year,” said Y Ishwar Rao, a trader. The prices of almost all firecrackers have gone up up by 30-40 per cent this time compared to last year due to imposition of 28 per cent GST.
As a result, sale of fire crackers has declined by 50 per cent as the people are not showing much interest to purchase crackers citing price rise and intermittent rains across the State, he added.
At the other end, a total of 106 stalls will be installed at Swaraj Maidhan (PWD Grounds) on Wednesday. There were 182 applications from various private entrepreneurs to display their ware at the PWD grounds. Of them, 97 private businessmen were selected by drawing lots.
The remaining nine stalls are semi-Government/cooperative entities.In those nine stalls, three are by District Co-operative Marketing Society and remaining six by Vijaya Krishna Super Bazaar.
