New Delhi, Apr 7 (IANS): The traders' body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and Indian Footwear Association (IFA) on Thursday urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to keep Goods and Services Tax (GST) tax rate on footwears below Rs 1,000 at 5 per cent and 12 per cent for beyond as it was applicable till December 31, 2021.

Besides, the two bodies also urged Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to make BIS standards applicable only on footwear costing above Rs 1,000.

"The CAIT and IAF argued that nearly 85 per cent of the population of the country consume footwear costing less than Rs 1000 and therefore any increase in GST tax rate will directly fall on consumers and since 90 per cent production of footwear is done largely by small and poor people or cobblers in home made industry or cottage industry and maximum usage is by low and medium income group, hence it is impossible to apply BIS standards on larger part of the footwear manufacturing in India," a statement said.

India is the second largest footwear manufacturer in the world with 9 per cent of the annual global production, CAIT claimed.

India has more than 10,000 footwear manufacturing units and about 1.5 lakh traders with 30 lakh people associated with the sector.