NEW DELHI, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Theater owners association in southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu Wednesday said they incur a loss of around 3 million U.S. dollars each day due to the ongoing strike against an increase in entertainment tax following implementation Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the country.
"We lose around 20 crore or 200 million Indian rupees (3 million U.S. dollars) a day due to the strike," Abirami Ramanathan, who heads the Tamil Nadu Theater Owners Association told media.
Reports said Tamil Nadu film industry accounts for a huge chunk of the 2.1 billion U. S. dollars annual box office earnings across India. The Tamil film industry is India's second biggest after the Mumbai-based Bollywood.
The strike that began on Monday according to industry representatives could affect the livelihoods of nearly 1 million people.
More than 1,000 movie theaters in the state went on an indefinite strike against the new tax structure on tickets.
Meanwhile, south Indian superstar Rajinikanth has urged Tamil Nadu government to reconsider decision of imposing 30 percent municipal tax on movie tickets.
"Keeping in mind the livelihood of lakhs of people in the Tamil film industry, I sincerely request the Tamil Nadu government to seriously consider our plea," Rajinikanth said.
Theater owners said state tax of 30 percent on tickets on top of the GST of 28 percent will deter cinema-goers from visiting theaters and encourage piracy.
GST, the India's biggest-ever tax reform was introduced on Saturday to replace more than a dozen state and central levies, with the aim to unify an economy of 2 trillion U. S. dollars and 1.3 billion people into a single market.
"The tax rate on tickets is 58 percent, the highest in the country," Ramanathan said, adding that "it is a burden on movie-goers and defeats the objective of the new tax regime."
