November 18: Textile manufacturers of Nepal shut down their factories across the nation on Saturday to protest against the government decision to remove value added tax (VAT) exemption on textiles.

The government had announced to cancel the VAT refund system during the budget speech. The decision came into effect from the starting of the current fiscal year.

The textile manufacturers shut down a total of 250 industries across the nation to pressurize the government to roll back the decision to cancel VAT exemption on textiles.

A total of 50,000 employees and their families will be directly affected from the indefinite protest by the textile manufactures against the government.

Organizing a press meet in Kathmandu on Saturday, textile manufacturers said they will go for stern protest if their demands are not addressed by November 23.

Addressing the meet, Sailendra Pradhan, president of Nepal Textile Industries Association (NTIA), said that the textile manufactures had urged the government to roll back its decision.

“As the government was reluctant to address our demands, we textile manufacturers had no option left than to shut down the factories,” he said, adding that it has been very difficult to compete with foreign textiles, and the decision has further hit the sector.