Non availment of Input Credit required for exemption; later reversal insufficient, proportionate monthly credit allowed for continuous use inputs.
The nil duty exemption requires non availment of CENVAT input credit as a precondition; taking input credit makes a manufacturer ineligible and later reversal does not restore eligibility. Where common continuous use inputs prevent practical segregation, manufacturers may initially refrain from credit and instead claim proportionate monthly input credit for dutiable clearances, supported by records and subject to audit, with penal consequences for incorrect claims.

Special procedure for removal of excisable goods permits duty-free transfers to job workers subject to conditions and valuation.
Manufacturers may remove excisable goods to other premises, including job workers, without payment of duty for tests or processes not amounting to manufacture, subject to Commissioner's permission and conditions. Permissions should require both principal and job worker to maintain detailed records of receipt, use, activities carried out and goods cleared. Waste or scrap must be returned to the principal or cleared on payment of duty. Valuation for duty on clearance from the job worker's premises must use the price at which the principal sells the final goods to its customer, and permissions should be granted sparingly for limited periods.

Loans against NR(E)RA and FCNR(B) deposits: fresh or renewed loans barred above prescribed ceiling to limit asset price pressure.
Banks maintaining NR(E)RA and FCNR(B) deposits are prohibited from granting fresh loans or renewing existing loans above a prescribed ceiling against such deposits to depositors or third parties, with immediate effect; banks must avoid artificial slicing to circumvent the ceiling and implement amendments to the Foreign Exchange Management (Deposit) Regulations, 2000 while observing other legal permissions.

Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZ Units added to Appendix-2, updating registered and regional office listings.
Amendment to Appendix-2 formally adds the Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZ Units, listing its registered office in New Delhi and seven regional offices (Chennai, Cochin, Kandla, Kolkata, Mumbai, Noida, Visakhapatnam) with specified SEZ/administrative office locations and contact details, issued under Paragraph 2.4 of the Foreign Trade Policy to update the official roster of Export Promotion Councils.

Realization of Export Proceeds: exporters must produce bank realization evidence or face recovery under drawback rules.
Exporters receiving drawback must file an undertaking to submit a Bank Realization Certificate for the relevant consignment within six months of export (or any period extended under FEMA); if they fail to submit the BRC or surrender the drawback, the Deputy/Assistant Commissioner shall issue a notice demanding repayment of the drawback amount under Rule 16(A) of the Drawback Rules.

Exclusive investor grievance e-mail mandated for intermediaries to enable complaint registration and follow-up under a regulatory directive.
All registered Merchant Bankers, Registrars to an Issue/Share Transfer Agents, Debenture Trustees, Bankers to Issue and Underwriters must designate an exclusive e-mail ID of the grievance redressal division or compliance officer for investor complaints, enable follow-up and monitoring of those complaints, and prominently display the e-mail ID and related contact details on their websites and investor materials.

Import controls: Drugs allowed only through designated ports, with quality checks and name verification required before clearance.
Importation of pharmaceutical products is permitted only through specified designated entry points for rail, road, sea and air, and ports not listed are not to be used for drug imports. Field authorities at ports and airports and health ministry officers are to be employed to support quality control checks, and customs formations must seek clarification when there is uncertainty about a medicine's chemical name versus its generic name before clearance.

Rebate of Terminal Excise Duty: exporters under Advance Licence may claim rebate even when inputs were duty-free.
Exporters under the Advance Licence Scheme are precluded from claiming rebate of excise duty paid on input materials but may claim rebate of terminal excise duty paid on finished goods exported under Rule 18 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002. Corrigenda were issued to correct inadvertent drafting errors in Advance Licence notifications so as to restore the longstanding distinction that barred input-duty rebate while permitting terminal-duty rebate. Payment of terminal duty by cash or CENVAT credit remains acceptable and, where paid, is refundable on export under Central Excise law.

Customs duty reductions on specified industrial inputs and project imports take effect, easing import taxation and expanding project import coverage.
Notification No. 6/2007, effective 22 January 2007, reduces customs duty on specified imports: inorganic chemicals and carbon black feedstock; primary and semi finished non ferrous metals including copper, aluminium, zinc and tin; pipes, tubes and fittings of those metals; calcined alumina; ferro alloys, stainless and alloy steels; refractories and specified raw materials; Portland cement; specified capital goods and parts including winding wires; and places all project imports on a reduced duty rate, expressly including airport development and metro rail projects.

Perishable cargo examination: avoid routine inspections; allow inspection only on credible intelligence with supervisory approval.
Perishable export cargo must receive expedited, time bound customs processing; no routine examination is to be conducted and inspection is permitted only on credible intelligence. If examination is necessary, prior permission of the Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner in charge of the Airport/Air Cargo Complex is required, and consignments taken up for examination should be cleared the same day unless Customs law is contravened.

Customs procedural response: field formations must provide time-bound clarifications to stakeholders, with reporting of implementation difficulties.
Directs CBEC field formations to provide prompt, time-bound responses to stakeholder queries on customs procedures for air cargo and airports, supplementing existing helpdesk and FAQ resources on CBEC portals; requires reporting of any implementation difficulties to the Board.

Transshipment procedure standardised: approved CTMs, bonded storage with customs supervision, and bond re credit upon acknowledgement.
Transshipment at any customs airport is authorised under the Customs Act and governed by a uniform procedure: segregate consignments in the custodian's premises; file an application or CTM for approval by the proper officer; escort cargo under Preventive Officer supervision to a receiving airline warehouse with double locking; no routine physical examination except on intelligence; debit transshipment bond and re-credit upon destination acknowledgement; destination customs will clear cargo by usual procedures.

FII investment limits in government securities increased, reallocating headroom toward 100% debt FIIs and notifying custodians.
SEBI increases the cumulative ceiling for FII investment in Government Securities and T Bills, adding the incremental headroom to the existing allocation for 100% debt FIIs while maintaining the 70:30 FIIs allocation unchanged; corporate debt limits remain unchanged. The circular provides revised per category and aggregate permissible limits for government securities/T bills and corporate debt and asks custodians to inform their FII clients.

Export restrictions for pulses: private traders must file ANF with irrevocable buyer credit and supporting order, subject to approval.
Procedures for export of pulses to Sri Lanka limit export permission to private traders who must file an application in Aayaat Niryaat Form at DGFT Headquarters within thirty days, accompanied by a valid export order or an irrevocable Letter of Credit from the Sri Lankan buyer; applications received within the period will be considered on merit and may be subject to additional conditions.

Dematerialisation requirement enables shifting from trade-for-trade to rolling settlement upon certified dematerialisation of prescribed holdings.
Companies with connectivity to both depositories may be shifted from Trade-for-Trade to Rolling Settlement provided a prescribed proportion of non-promoter holdings are dematerialised and certified by the RTA or, if none, by a practicing company secretary/chartered accountant, and provided there are no other grounds for continuation in Trade-for-Trade; stock exchanges must report actions taken in their development reports.

Packaged Commodities compliance: bulk packaged ice cream for hotel/catering must declare the retail sale price under legal metrology rules.
Packages of ice cream supplied in bulk to hotels, restaurants and the catering trade are subject to the Standards of Weights & Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 1977; ice cream is not to be treated as raw material under Rule 34(a), and such packages must comply with the Act and Rules, including declaring the retail sale price on the packages.

Duty credit entitlement: consolidated six monthly claims on FOB realisation require BRC/FIRC and single port registration.
Claims under the Focus Product Scheme require a single consolidated application by Head/Registered Office for all exports through EDI-enabled ports on a six-monthly basis where realisation occurred; exports from 01.04.2006 and advance-payment exports by export date are eligible. Duty credit certificates are issued on FOB value realised per BRC/FIRC and may be transferable when bank-confirmed for LC/avalised or guaranteed bills. Scrips are registered to a single export port but may be used for imports at other ports after obtaining TRA. Applications must include specified documents, follow lost-shipping-bill safeguards, and be submitted within six months of the application period end.

Export Promotion Council amendment updates Cotton Textiles EPC office and contact details under the Foreign Trade Policy.
Amendment replaces the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council entry in the Handbook of Procedures with revised registered and regional office addresses for Mumbai and New Delhi and updates the Council's telephone, fax, email and website contact details; issued under the Foreign Trade Policy authority by public notice for administrative implementation.

Deterrence for tax evaders: use standardized proformas to recommend facility restrictions and initiate action under prescribed notification.
Administrative units must forward proposals only in the prescribed proforma: include party identification, range/division, ECC, commodity, dates of search/detection, nature of offence, principal evidence, estimated duty evasion and period, proposed facility restrictions with justification, dates and submissions of any personal hearing, and the reviewing officer's signed view that records and evidence suffice to form a reasonable belief of knowing commission of the offence, with dates and enclosures.

Location codes allocation for customs facilities - use assigned codes in TR-6 challans to streamline duty remittances.
Allotment of location codes to the Bangalore Customs Commissionerate and its formations is announced; specific codes have been assigned to the Commissionerate, Air Cargo Complex, Inland Container Depot, Postal Appraising Depot, Bangalore International Airport, Customs Division and multiple EOU/CWC ranges. Importers, exporters and the trade must incorporate the respective location codes in TR-6 challans presented to nominated banks for payment of Customs duties to standardise payment identification and facilitate duty remittances.