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M. Ramesh

Chennai , March 6

THE Budget has imposed a 2 per cent excise duty on branded jewellery. But at least one manufacturer has found a way to get around the levy.

Titan Industries plans to start manufacturing `Tanishq' jewellery in Himachal Pradesh, one of the three northern States that offer excise duty holiday for 10 years. Asked if the excise levy would outprice Tanishq in the market, the Managing Director of Titan Industries, Mr Bhaskar Bhat, said that the company had means of absorbing the increase in costs due to the levy. "One answer is to set up a unit in Himachal Pradesh," he told Business Line today.

Mr Bhat said that the company had known that the excise duty might come and, hence, had been mulling a unit in Himachal for sometime. "But we could not make actual investments until the Budget announcement came," he said. Mr Bhat was here in connection with celebrations over one of the Titan showrooms in Chennai, Titan Timelinks, getting an ISO 9001 certification for its `watch care centre'.

Mr Bhat said it was correct to levy excise on jewellery, as production of jewellery is also manufacturing activity, but noted that the concept of brand must be clearly defined. If Titan Industries decides to make jewellery in Himachal Pradesh, it may still "not be a big investment," Mr Bhat said.

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