BENGALURU: With Goods and Services Tax to be introduced on Saturday, sportspersons are worried, with equipment to become more expensive.
Cricket, which every other school kid plays, will get more expensive with bats and balls included in 12 per cent tax bracket. Other equipment like helmets have been taxed even higher, at 28 per cent. “It is going to increase prices because rates, earlier on bats, was 2 per cent excise,” says Jatin Sareen of SS Sports, one of the leading cricket equipment manufacturers in the country.
“Now it is 12%. If a bat earlier cost Rs102, now it is going to cost `114. Helmets and gloves will also get more expensive with the tax rates hiked to 28 per cent. So it is going to get even more expensive for the general consumer.”
But it is other sports that are set to be affected even more. Shot puts, javelins, high-jump stuff, boxing gloves and swimming gear have all been included in the 28 per cent tax bracket, putting a further dent in the average sportsperson’s budget.
Then there is the rather strange case of kit bags. Apparently these have been classified under bags rather than sports goods, meaning placement in 28 per cent category rather than 12 per cent one. “Sports goods will definitely become costlier for general sportsmen and for schools and colleges. They will most affected,” says Shiv Prakash Singh, managing director of sports equipment manufacturer Shiv Naresh.
“The impact will be more when they buy kit bags, because that has been classified under bags rather than sports equipment, which means a tax of 28 per cent. That is essentially a 50 per cent increase in tax. The government should consider the case of kit bags, because it is a part of sports equipment. Without them, no one can walk into any sports arena to participate in anything.”
The sole bright spot is that prices of sports apparel are set to remain stable. “Although our tax liability in apparel has gone up, we would hold the existing prices of sports apparel and jerseys,” Abhishek Ganguly, MD, PUMA India, told Express. “The overall market is in a growth phase and at this stage we would like to generate more demand on these product categories.”
Another indirect effect is hike in prices of fitness equipment, which most sportspersons use. They have been bunched in the 28 per cent category, marking a sharp hike in prices.
vishnu.prasad@newindianexpress.com