The textile embroidery hub in Surat has decided to agitate against GST from June 24. Embroidery job work attracts a five per cent GST rate. Owners of units say profit margins range from 50 paise to Re1 per meter and if they are supposed to pay five per cent GST, their operations would be crippled.

Surat is the country’s largest textile embroidery hub. There are 1.5 lakh hi-tech embroidery machines installed in over 60,000 embroidery units spread across the city. The daily turnover of the embroidery sector is pegged at Rs 4 crores. The embroidery sector employs around four lakh workers, including one lakh women who work from their homes.

The revolution in the embroidery sector started way back in 2006 with the installation of 3,000 computerized embroidery machines known as multi-headed and Schiffli machines imported from China and South Korea. In the last decade, entrepreneurs have infused investments worth Rs 6,000 crores in the sector.

The number of machines has nearly doubled in the last five or six years, which has led to the steep fall in job work rates. Job work rates which were prevailing at Rs 2 per 1000 stitches around ten years ago have dipped to around 50 paise per 1000 stitches.