Sivakasi calendar printers faced with high GST, material costs

According to K Jeyasankar, secretary, Tamil Nadu Calendar Manufacturers Association, Sivakasi, 2021 is the worst year ever in the printing industry, which is becoming tougher and tougher and hit by soaring raw material costs. This industry was exempted from tax for 21 years until 2017 when GST came. With the 12 per cent GST imposed on the calendar making industry, business suffered a loss. While the industry stakeholders have been relying much on the government to lower the 12 per cent GST to offset the declining business, the sudden increase in GST to 18 per cent from October this year came as a shock and the industry suffered a heavy blow.

Adding to woes, raw material costs had doubled. Compared to last year when a tonne of art paper was priced at Rs 55,000, now it has touched Rs 1 lakh.

Owing to unavoidable circumstances, the increase in raw material cost triggered a rise in production cost by 30 to 40 per cent, making it unaffordable, ultimately declining the production volume.

Due to the cascading effect, the industry witnessed 20 per cent slump in production, he told DT Next on Sunday.

Usually, calendars are considered as business promotion articles and timely production and delivery of finished goods could only be good for business. But since the shipping industry is undergoing container shortage caused by COVID-19 and with a surge in freight rates, such an unhealthy situation caused yet another blow to the calendar industry, which could hardly import raw material on time.

On several occasions, orders placed were canceled owing to unavoidable delays, he rued. Citing these issues, he requested the government to consider the plight of calendar manufacturers and lower the GST to 5 per cent or 12 per cent.

V Sutharson, president, Sivakasi Master Printers Association, said apart from these issues, the Centre restricted its organisations from supplying calendars and diaries.