India’s union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has said on Tuesday that he would review the proposal to impose excise duty on unbranded jewellery in the country following days of protests by jewellers.

Jewellers in the country have been protesting against the decision to introduce two per cent additional tax on gold in the union budget that was presented on 16 March 2012.

The government is planning to impose 1 per cent excise duty on non-branded gold jewellery besides doubling the import duty on gold to 4 per cent.

Mukherjee had announced his decision to increase the duty on gold imports to 4 per cent in the country with effect from the next financial year. Experts say that unbranded gold ornaments will become more expensive by about Rs 1,000 per 10 grams due to the budget proposal to impose the excise duty.

He also said that the decision on the matter for additional compensation for central sales tax would depend on an agreed timeframe for the implementation of the Goods and Services tax.

Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha has put pressure on the government for a rollback of the excise duty on unbranded jewellery. He has also appealed to the government to do away with the requirement of a PAN card to buy jewellery worth Rs 2 lakh.