In the wake of strong protests from jewellery manufacturers on the Excise duty hike on unbranded jewellery as announced in the Union Budget, the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has convened a meeting of jewellery manufacturers from major cities in New Delhi on 6th of this month. An official release said that the Jewellery manufacturers have been asked to nominate two representatives each for the meeting. Earlier, the government had announced one percent excise duty on unbranded jewellery of precious metals other than silver as part of the Union Budget proposals for 2012-13. Several representations had been received in the Finance Ministry on behalf of jewellery manufacturers, including artisans and goldsmiths seeking reconsideration of this proposal on the ground that the industry is unorganised and fragmented and would find it difficult to comply with the provisions of Central Excise Law.